Description
This is a beautiful split ammonite"Acanthoceras wintoni" from Tarrant County, Texas. These ammonites date back to the Late Cretaceous time period, approximately 96 million years ago!Ammonites were soft-bodied marine molluscs that lived in spiral, compressed multi-chambered shells. The outermost chamber of the shell housed the animal itself. The earliest ammonites appeared during the Devonian time period, about 400 million years ago and the last ammonites vanished in the Cretaceous time period, approximately 66 million years ago, as a result of the K-T event that killed the dinosaurs. Ammonites are excellent index fossils, which means that the presence of a particular ammonite species in geologic strata helps to identify the age of the fossils found in that layer. This is because certain species of ammonites only lived during specific time periods. Ammonites are sometimes confused with the similar-appearing nautilus. An ammonite can be distinguished from a nautilus by the pattern of its shell sutures, which are more complex and squiggly in the ammonite. This undulation is an ammonite's sutures also creates a ribbed look to the outer surfact of its shell, while the shell of the nautilus is smooth. Included with the ammonite is a nice paper label. We have a variety of ammonite fossils for sale so be sure to check out our other listing!