MASSIVE INTACT JURASSIC OCEAN LIFE FOSSIL AMMONITE SLAB FROM GERMANY

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 MONSTROUS and exquisitely preserved mass mortality slab of gold pyrite Jurassic ammonites.  The slab is UNBROKEN and completely intact.  The gold ammonites are naturally colored by their mineralization as the fossil was formed millions of years ago.  This gold color is highly prized but varies in intensity.  In this specimen, is unusually well-pronounced.  The ammonite species shown here are large Harpoceras examples surrounded by smaller Dactylioceras ammonites. 

Specimens like this are now becoming quite rare as almost all large-scale quarrying operations in the formation have ceased.  It is likely, Holzmaden fossils of exceptional quality and size 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.  This specimen is perfect for either a collector of unusual and impressive fossil specimens or for an memorable centerpiece for interior design.  Highly recommended to accent a room with one of nature's most beautiful prehistoric masterpieces as this would really set off any interior.  The ammonites and slab have been chemically sealed to protect and stabilize the pyrite feature.  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!  Even if you could care less about fossils of any kind, you would be hard-pressed to not find this specimen anything less than breath-taking!

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.

100% ORIGINAL UNBROKEN SLAB WITH BEAUTIFUL GOLD NATURALLY PYRITIZED AMMONITES - CENTERPIECE FOR ANY INTERIOR! 

39" x 37" overall, largest ammonite is 8" across

SOLD     AMX-126     Actual Item - One Only

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