7.5" Fossil Ammonite (Leioceras) Cluster - Dorset, England

Fossil Ammonite (Leioceras) Cluster - Dorset, England #171253

This is a 7.5" wide cluster of ammonite (Leioceras opalinum) fossils. The ammonites are Middle Jurassic in age and come from the Inferior Oolite of Dorset, England. There are 18 ammonites that have been exposed from the rock, with the largest measuring 2.2" wide. A small gastropod can be found near the base of this specimen as well. The rock has been cut flat for presentation purposes.

Ammonites were predatory cephalopod mollusks that resembled squids with spiral shells. They are more closely related to living octopuses, though their shells resemble that of nautilus species. True ammonites appeared in the fossil record about 240 million years ago during the Triassic Period. The last lineages disappeared 65 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous.

What an ammonite would have looked like while alive.

More about ammonites