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GIANT FREE-STANDING GONIATITE - Sahara Desert, Morocco DEVONIAN PERIOD: 395 - 345 million years ago This is one of the most complete goniatites we have ever seen and it is preserved in the rarer golden limestone famous in the Northern Sahara where they are excavated. The chamber detail is EXCEPTIONALLY strong and intact and runs all the way to the opening. Fractures seen in the rock are from hundreds of millions of years of aging not handling damage, and have been stabilized so the entire fossil is a strong, solid single piece of stone. This is one surreal and sizable specimen that should not be passed up! The beautiful spiral pattern of zigzag septa of the fossilized shell is it's hallmark. THE LINES ARE NATURAL, not artificial. Over millions of years, the septa lines have filled with calcite, the whitish gray mineral in the stone. Self-standing and polished on both sides with the utmost skill, these rare specimens are amongst some of our highest demand fossil ammonites when we are fortunate enough to secure the few we collect each year. Sure, you can find many dealers that have large carved goniatites but look for the natural pattern in the stone of the chambers. Most you will see have some detail in the center and the rest of the fossil is all matrix simply carved and polished to only resemble a large actual fossil. In this rare example, you can clearly see the detail on the chambers runs all the way to the outer curve indicating that this is a true and genuine large goniatite, not just a polished stone. Such a rare and amazing fossil is breath-taking when incorporated into any interior design application, home or office. An excellent gift, educational specimen or conversation piece. PERFECT SYMMETRY AND COIL!!!
The animal that lived in this fossil shell looked something like a squid or an octopus, with tentacles for grasping its food and moving around the ocean floor. Some ammonite species have been found up to 6 feet across in size, while others never got bigger than a dime. THE FINEST CHAMBER DETAIL AND PATTERN YOU CAN ASK FOR IN A LARGE GONIATITE! 8.25" wide x 6.3" high x 4.1" thick SOLD AM207 Actual Item - One Only |
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AMMONOIDS
evolved from nautiloids in the early Devonian period, about 400 million
years ago. They were abundant in world seas for the next 370 million
years. They suddenly vanished at the end of the Cretaceous period. These
extinct marine animals, which thrived in the Paleozoic and Mesozoic
Eras, some 400 to 65 million years ago, were cephalopods, and are thus
related to squid, octopus, cuttlefish, and the chambered nautilus.
Ammonites were able to swim, thanks to the unique construction of their
shell, which was divided into a series of air chambers. The air in the
chambers provided buoyancy for the animal to float; like modern
cephalopods, they probably moved through the water using jet propulsion.
Because ammonites lived exclusively in marine environments, their
presence also indicates the location of prehistoric seas.