3.4" Jurassic Ammonite (Caenisites) Fossil - Dorset, England

Jurassic Ammonite (Caenisites) Fossil - Dorset, England #240742

This is a beautifully preserved, 3.4" wide Caenisites turneri ammonite fossil from the Lower Lias, Birchi Subzone in the Lyme Regis region of England. It is Lower Jurassic in age, or approximately 200 million years old. One half of the ammonite has been exposed from the rock. This specimen is accompanied by an acrylic display stand.

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