EXTRA LARGE JURASSIC BLACK SHALE SLAB WITH GOLDEN PYRITE LYTOCERAS AMMONITE

Holzmaden Black Shale Formation (Lias Epsilon) - Stuttgart, Germany

JURASSIC PERIOD:  200 million years ago

From the world-renown Black Jurassic oil-bearing shale of Holzmaden, Germany comes this LARGE ARCHITECTURAL FOSSIL SLAB of an exquisitely preserved Lytoceras trautscholdi species ammonite.  Specimens like this are now becoming quite rare as almost all quarrying operations in the formation have ceased.  It is likely, Holzmaden fossils of exceptional quality like this breath-taking example will appreciate in the future as demand far outstrips supply.  Holzmaden is a highly unique formation, famous for producing some of the world's finest Jurassic marine life fossils.  Modern quarry efforts have failed to produce many specimens like this that were once found in greater frequency years ago.  If you are an advanced ammonite collector wanting one of the rarest possible ammonite specimens from one of the world's rarest and most coveted Jurassic provenances, then this specimen poses a VERY UNIQUE opportunity for you.  If you wish to accent a room with one of nature's most beautiful prehistoric masterpieces, then this fossil would really set off any interior.  

Fossils like this are one of the most impressive and aesthetic masterpieces of nature for interior design along with impressive display specimens for collectors.  This species is less common than the more prevalent Harpoceras or Dactylioceras ammonites found in the formation.  The entire ammonite is complete and possesses original gold pyritization to the shell imprint that is so HIGHLY-prized.  This gold tone to the creatures on the slab is COMPLETELY GENUINE AND NATURAL, formed by mineralization as the fossil was formed millions of years ago.  NO RESTORATION OR FABRICATION.   

Some of the largest dinosaurs that ever walked the earth were in existence when this Lytoceras ammonite swam in the ancient seas alongside massive plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs! 

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.

ALMOST ALL QUARRIES NOW CLOSED - NATURAL GOLD PYRITE LYTOCERAS AMMONITE ON HUGE ARCHITECTURAL SLAB! 

32.5" x 24.5" overall, ammonite 6.25" wide

$1150     AMH-008     INCLUDES STAND     Actual Item - One Only

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