.7" Rare Mississippian Fossil Goniatite (Goniatites) - Oklahoma

Rare Mississippian Fossil Goniatite (Goniatites) - Oklahoma #189517

This is .7" wide fossil goniatite (Goniatites americanus) from the Caney Shale of Clarita, Oklahoma. The outer shell is worn away leaving the intricate pattern of the inner shell sutures.

Goniatites possessed a shell divided internally into chambers filled with gas for buoyancy. An open chamber at the front of the shell provided living space for the animal. The general morphology and habit of goniatites was probably similar to that of their later relatives the ammonites: they swam freely and possessed heads with two well developed eyes and arms.