RARE LARGE TRIPLE CEPHALOPOD SPECIES FOSSIL ON MATRIX

Tagoudite Formation - Central High Atlas Mountains, Morocco

EARLY JURASSIC PERIOD (TOARCIAN):  183 - 175 million years ago

This is an amazing decorator display fossil as much as it is a superb collection specimen.  Three cephalopods are present, fully inflated and wonderfully preserved, prepared together on their fossil matrix.  Two are ammonites and one is a rare unknown species of Nautilus.  The largest ammonite is a Harpoceras and the smaller, a Hildoceras ammonite.  The rock matrix elevates them naturally and offers a superb multi-dimensional display that MUST be seen in person to fully grasp and appreciate.  These species are found together in the Lower Jurassic Toarcian sediments of the Central High Atlas mountains in Morocco.  Fossils are with NO RESTORATION and each shows rare shell detail as well as full inflation with no distortion. 

Perfect to accompany any advanced fossil marine life collection as well as a stunning and highly unique interior design fossil of pure natural history!

Ammonites are extinct members of the Cephalopod class.  Modern members include nautilus, squid and octopus.  They first appeared during the Silurian Period (435 million to 410 million years ago) and were abundant and widespread in the seas of the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods (175 million to 65 million years ago).  Ammonites are important index fossils—that is, they often link the rock layer in which they are found to specific geological time periods.

Ammonites varied greatly in size.  The largest known as small as 2 cm (0.75 in) in diameter.  During the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, ammonites evolved more streamlined shells for swimming and the structure of the shell became stronger.  Different shell shapes emerged as well, such as snail-like or uncoiled.   

The shells of ammonites had hollow chambers separated by walls called septa.  A tube called the siphuncle, connected the body with the chambers allowing the animal to fill them with water or air, changing its buoyancy in order to  rise or drop in the ocean.  Only the last and largest chamber was occupied by the living animal.  

Ammonites probably lived for one to six years, with the majority living two to four years.  They fed on plankton (tiny free-floating organisms), sea lilies, and smaller orthoceras.  Although many fed off the ocean floor, others may have caught plankton while floating or swimming via jet propulsion, expelling water through a funnel-like opening to propel themselves in the opposite direction.

Because ammonites lived exclusively in marine environments, their presence also indicates the location of prehistoric seas.

HIGHLY AESTHETIC DISPLAY SPECIMEN WITH EXTREME APPEAL AND DIMENSION!

11.75" across and 8.75" high overall with matrix, fossils are 9", 5.2" and 3" across

$395     AMX-057     Actual Item - One Only

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