Product Description
If you are looking for an unforgettable house-warming or unique gift that won't get "re-gifted", this is a fantastic option! This is a set of two Orthoceras fossils - one in the form of the rough slab with polished fossils, the other a small handmade fossil stone bowl made out of a single block of fossil orthoceras. Orthoceras are ancient straight cephalopods that once lived in the prehistoric sea. Orthoceras are a type of prehistoric squid that lived before any living creature walked the Earth!
This wonderful fossil set would make a great interior design accent for a bathroom or kitchen. The bowl can be used as a soap dish. Perfect for any home or office that is near the ocean!
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HISTORY
Prehistoric 'straight' cephalopods include straight ammonoids called ORTHOCERAS. Cephalopod evolution began during the Late Cambrian Period. Cephalopod bodies were predominantly elongate with conical shells. Some of these creatures evolved into semi-coiled forms eventually giving rise to coiled cephalopods like ammonites and nautilii-.
Straight cephalopods were among the most advanced invertebrates of their time having eyes, jaws, and a sophisticated nervous system. These creatures were predators that swam freely using a jet propulsion system by squirting water from their bodies. They had tentacles and ink sacs also much like the present-day squid. Except for belemnites, cephalopods had external shells with hollow internal 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. Belemnites were different in that they had internal shells called 'guards' which were covered with the soft, muscular tissues of their bodies. These shells were also chambered but much less complex than the straight varieties of nautiloids and ammonoids.