5.1" Dactylioceras Ammonite Cluster - Rare Occurrence

Dactylioceras Ammonite Cluster - Rare Occurrence #93909

This is a cluster of Dactylioceras (Orthodactylites) tenuicostatum ammonites from the Somerset, England. The ammonites are Lower Jurassic (180 Million Years Old) in age and preserved in a cluster. There are seven complete ammonites in this cluster and the rock has been prepped in an artistic fashion that allows for aesthetic presentation of the ammonites. The rock matrix has been cut flat so the specimen sits nicely on a flat surface. Typically these are just found as single ammonites in the concretions so a cluster like this is extremely rare.

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