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Gallery -
Fossils -
ammonites
22" Natural Ammonite
Jurassic Period Sculpture
Cretaceous
Period
Sculpture
Ammonites
were considered to be intelligent mollusks.
The word ammonite is derived from the name of the Greek God
“Ammon” who appeared with rams horns on his head.
Ammonites are the distant ancestors of the chambered Nautilus.
The animal that lived in these shells looked something like a squid
or an
octopus, with tentacles for grasping its food and moving around the
ocean floor.
Although their first appearance was in the Cambrian period 500 million
years ago,
most are found in the Mesozoic period from 60 million to 360 million years
ago.
Ammonites started dying out around the time of the Dinosaurs -
60 million years ago. There are several different species of
ammonites;
some can be as large as 6 ft while others are no bigger than a
dime.
These examples are in a natural state or as polished art sculptures
from Morocco
and
Northern Africa. They are some of the finest specimens found anywhere. |
