Reviews
3.3" Pink Champagne Ammonite (Hoploscaphities) Fossil (Pos/Neg) - SD
This new find out of the Fox Hills Formation in South Dakota is a fascinating, 3.3" wide Hoploscaphities nicoletti ammonite fossil, collected on private land along the Moreau River in Ziebach County. It's still in the split nodule it was found in, both halves of which are included. The champagne-pink and purple iridescence is remnant mother of pearl from the original shell. Often it's slightly altered to include some iron, manganese, etc., from the surrounding matrix.
It comes with an acrylic display stand for each nodule half.
It comes with an acrylic display stand for each nodule half.
About These Ammonites
These 70-million-year-old Cretaceous ammonite fossils come from a time when South Dakota was submerged beneath the Western Interior Seaway, a warm, shallow inland ocean that once stretched from the Arctic to the Gulf of Mexico. Ammonites were extinct marine cephalopods related to modern squid, octopus, and cuttlefish, but unlike their soft-bodied relatives, they lived inside coiled, chambered shells. As the animal grew, it added new chambers, using them to regulate buoyancy and move efficiently through the ancient seas. Their abundance and rapid evolution make ammonites some of the most important index fossils for dating marine rocks.
After death, these ammonites settled into seafloor sediments where mineral-rich waters slowly formed concretions around the shells, protecting them from crushing and decay for tens of millions of years. When these stone nodules are split open today, the fossils are revealed locked inside and must be carefully hand-prepared to remove the surrounding rock. This delicate, time-consuming process—often done with air scribes and fine tools—can take many hours per specimen, gradually exposing the shell’s ribs, sutures, and natural curvature. The finished fossils are striking remnants of South Dakota’s ancient ocean, preserving a moment from a world that vanished long before dinosaurs walked on land.
These 70-million-year-old Cretaceous ammonite fossils come from a time when South Dakota was submerged beneath the Western Interior Seaway, a warm, shallow inland ocean that once stretched from the Arctic to the Gulf of Mexico. Ammonites were extinct marine cephalopods related to modern squid, octopus, and cuttlefish, but unlike their soft-bodied relatives, they lived inside coiled, chambered shells. As the animal grew, it added new chambers, using them to regulate buoyancy and move efficiently through the ancient seas. Their abundance and rapid evolution make ammonites some of the most important index fossils for dating marine rocks.
After death, these ammonites settled into seafloor sediments where mineral-rich waters slowly formed concretions around the shells, protecting them from crushing and decay for tens of millions of years. When these stone nodules are split open today, the fossils are revealed locked inside and must be carefully hand-prepared to remove the surrounding rock. This delicate, time-consuming process—often done with air scribes and fine tools—can take many hours per specimen, gradually exposing the shell’s ribs, sutures, and natural curvature. The finished fossils are striking remnants of South Dakota’s ancient ocean, preserving a moment from a world that vanished long before dinosaurs walked on land.
$175
SPECIES
Hoploscaphities nicoletti
LOCATION
Near Moreau River, Ziebach County, South Dakota
FORMATION
Fox Hills Formation
SIZE
Ammonite: 3.3" wide, Entire Specimen: 3.6 x 3.4"
CATEGORY
SUB CATEGORY
ITEM
#336260
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