3.25" Dactylioceras Ammonite Fossil - England

Dactylioceras Ammonite Fossil - England #84934

This is a classic British ammonite of the species Dactylioceras commune. These well preserved ammonites are Jurassic in age and are found in hard concretions that must be split open to reveal the fossil. The hard rock then has to removed mechanically to further expose the fossil.

Ammonites were predatory mollusks that resembled a squid with a shell. These cephalopods had eyes, tentacles, and spiral shells. They are more closely related to a living octopus, though the shells resemble that of a nautilus. True ammonites appeared in the fossil record about 240 million years ago. The last lineages disappeared 65 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous.

What an ammonite would have looked like while alive.

More about ammonites