2.55" Polished Sutured Ammonite (Phylloceras?) Fossil - Madagascar

Polished Sutured Ammonite (Phylloceras?) Fossil - Madagascar #251485

This is a beautiful 2.55" wide polished ammonite fossil from the Mahajanga Province of Madagascar. It is Early Cretaceous (Albian Stage) in age, or approximately 110 million years old, and likely of the genus Phylloceras. The sutures on it have been meticulously exposed and cleaned making the ammonite look that much nicer. This specimen even has a bit of red flash from a thin remaining layer of shell.

Ammonites were predatory mollusks that resembled squids with shells. These cephalopods had eyes, tentacles, and spiral shells. Though their shells resemble that of a nautilus, they are actually more closely related to living octopuses. Ammonites appeared in the fossil record about 240 million years ago, barely surviving several major extinction events. The last lineages disappeared 65 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous.

Artist's reconstruction of an ammonite, by Nobu Tamura

More about ammonites