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RARE MASSIVE INTACT GOLD LYTOCERAS AMMONITE IN PYRITE ON BLACK SHALE SQUARE SLAB FROM HOLZMADEN, 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 Lytoceras trautscholdi species ammonite. Specimens of this quality and size are seldom discovered at this highly unique formation famous for producing some of the world's finest Jurassic marine life fossils. Decades ago, the quarries that produced these fossils were worked for the slate for floor tiles. The work was done by hand labor where workers could see the fossils as rock was split and business was good. Today, nearly all of the quarries are closed or abandoned and submerged in water. The few operations in existence use large machinery that prevents the ease of seeing the fossils when they are accidentally uncovered and the heavy equipment often destroys what is found. Modern quarry efforts have failed to produce many specimens like this that were once found in greater frequency years ago. 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. The fossil ammonites that are found there sometimes can be found naturally in a metallic gold from Pyrite on the fossil. Set against the original black shale rock they are found in makes them extremely desirable not only to collectors but to interior designers, as well. This is THE LARGEST UNBROKEN nearly SQUARE ammonite slab from this site we have ever offered! Furthermore, it is an unusually rare LARGE Lytoceras ammonite which is the rarest of the three main types found in the deposit at Holzmaden. The ammonites in this formation are mostly flat and level with the rock but this beautiful and rare example is slightly inflated off the rock as seen in the last photo. The preservation is excellent with heavy pyrite mineralization on the body of the ammonite and beautiful chamber as well as spiral whorl detail intact. Even if this huge Lytoceras was on a small slab, it would be a superb offering because it is unusually LARGE in size but here, it is on such a beautifully clean and massive shale slab with no defects. The slab itself has beautiful rippled surfaces where it was split from the adjacent layer. Perfectly centered and trimmed to a gentle SQUARE, this giant all-natural masterpiece cannot be improved! The entire ammonite is complete and possesses dense, 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. Amazingly, the slab did not sustain any breakage when it was split so this massive beauty is INTACT WITH NO REPAIR, NO RESTORATION OR FABRICATION! This magnificent specimen is not only valuable for its superb fossil size, quality and preservation but it possesses immense architectural value when used in any interior setting. Some of the largest dinosaurs that ever walked the earth were in existence when these ammonites swam in the ancient seas alongside massive plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs! Absolutely our highest recommendation. 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 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
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.
SIMPLY GORGEOUS NATURAL UNBROKEN MASSIVE GOLD SPECIMEN ON SQUARE BLACK SHALE - SUPREME ARCHITECTURAL PIECE! 26.75" x 24.75" wide, ammonite is unusually large at 10.75" across SOLD AMX207 Actual Item - One Only |
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2895 |
