7.8" Fossil Ammonite (Dorsetensia & Otoites) Association - England

Fossil Ammonite (Dorsetensia & Otoites) Association - England #171272

This is a gorgeous ammonite fossil association that was collected from Dorset, England. The largest ammonite (Dorsetensia subtecta) is 2.5" wide and the smaller ammonite (Otoites sauzei) is 1.55" wide. There are small bivalve fossils that have been exposed from the rock, along with what appears to be a piece of petrified wood. This specimen is Middle Jurassic in age, or approximately 160 million years old. The base of the rock has been cut flat so that it stands up without the need for a display stand.

Ammonites were predatory cephalopod mollusks that resembled squids with spiral shells. They are more closely related to living octopuses, though their shells resemble that of nautilus species. True ammonites appeared in the fossil record about 240 million years ago during the Triassic Period. 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