Product Description
CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT STRAIGHT CEPHALOPOD FOSSILS
If you are looking for a spectacular and MASSIVE display specimen of orthoceras then this specimen comes with high recommendations. This superb, unbroken giant slab filled with wonderful naturally occurring orthoceras fossils was once part of the prehistoric ocean floor over 400 million years ago. The fossils are exposed and given a high polish to better view the creatures from their surrounding matrix. This is not the common composites you see typically offered in the market but is a 100% authentic heavy fossil rock slab loaded with these beautiful prehistoric sea squid. The slab features very high relief as well as dramatic texture and detail. As these forms of prehistoric squid were covered in ocean sediments prior to fossilization, the majority of the creatures will be facing in the same relative position having been lined up by currents on the sea floor prior to being buried.
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.
Special crating and truck freight shipping costs will apply. Arrangements can be made to pick up at our gallery outside of Orlando, Florida for no additional charge.
