Natural Art - 3.6 Inch Polished Ammonite

Natural Art - Inch Polished Ammonite #1285

This is a true natural work of art, a Cleoniceras ammonite fossil from the Cretaceous (110 million years ago) of Madagascar. It has been cut in half and polished to reveal the inner chamber detail. These chambers have been highly mineralized with some of them being preserved as pockets of calcite crystals. The reverse side is also polished and displays some of the shell along with the distinctive suture pattern.

This ammonite is approximately 3.6 inches wide and comes with a pair of acrylic display stands.

Ammonites were predatory mollusks that resembled squids with shells. These cephalopods had eyes, tentacles, and spiral shells. Though their shells resemble that of a nautilus, they are actually more closely related to living octopuses. Ammonites appeared in the fossil record about 240 million years ago, barely surviving several major extinction events. The last lineages disappeared 65 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous.

Artist's reconstruction of an ammonite, by Nobu Tamura

More about ammonites