2.7" Polished Fossil Belemnite - Buttenheim, Germany

This is a 2.7" long, polished fossil Belemnite that was collected from the Lower Jurassic Age, "Holzbachacker" Clay-Pit of Buttenheim, Bavaria/Germany. This is the fossilized "cone" portion of the belemnite. There are a variety of belemnite species that come from this location, making it difficult to conclusively identify them to a specific genus.

Belemnites are probably the most well known extinct cephalopod after the ammonites. They lived during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods and are fairly common fossils found throughout the world. They had a hard, internal, cone shaped structure that is often preserved as a fossil though it is not technically a shell. They had 10 arms but unlike modern squid these arms had small hooks instead of suckers.