7.9" Toarcian Ammonite (Harpoceras) Fossil - France

Toarcian Ammonite (Harpoceras) Fossil - France #301631

This is a fossil ammonite of the species Harpoceras serpentinum, collected in France. It is Toarcian (Jurassic period) in age, or approximately 180 million years old. It has been completely removed from the rock it was found in and is accompanied by an acrylic-metal display stand.

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