SET OF THREE PERISPHINCTES AMMONITES FROM RARE GREEN AMMONITE SOURCE

Grafenberg, Germany

UPPER JURASSIC PERIOD (MALM):   154 - 144 million years ago

A VERY rare occurrence can be found at an exclusive Upper Jurassic fossil-bearing site in Germany.  The ammonites have been preserved a beautiful and completely natural GREEN hue in the light gray host rock!  We have a very select set of three examples of the various colors ranging from rare pure ivory white to rich dark green.  These strange hues are caused by unique mineralization in the fossil stone.

These RARE green Perisphinctes species ammonites from this site in Grafenberg, Germany are sure to please any collector of the unusual.  Out of the few specimens that we were fortunate enough to collect many years ago, these are amongst the best.  Two are still attached to their matrix and one small ivory white one is impeccably preserved.  Detail is superb!  No restoration and no repair.  Yes, the color is 100% natural!

A unique site and a beautiful specimen for collectors desiring rare and uncommon fossils!

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.

RARE NATURAL GREEN SPECIMEN FROM EXCLUSIVE SITE - HIGHLY UNUSUAL FOSSIL!

2" - 1.4" across

$165     AMX-138     Actual Item - One Only

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