2.6" One Side Polished, Pyritized Fossil, Ammonite - Russia

One Side Polished, Pyritized Fossil, Ammonite - Russia #174979

This is a gorgeous pyritized ammonite of the genus Quenstedticeras. It was collected from a Middle Jurassic age deposit along the banks of the Volga River near Saratov, Russia. One side of the ammonite has been polished to a mirror-finish, revealing the pyrite replaced/lined chambers. The opposite side of the ammonite has been left rough to display the stunning iridescent shell.

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