Description
Ammonite Douvilleiceras 12cm across
This is a very large example of the Ammonite Douvilleiceras 12cm across, with lovely chocolate brown and caramel colouring. This specimen has been beautifully polished and shows superb cream suture patterns which contrast with the rich dark colours of the ribbed shell. This Douvilleiceras ammonite is approximately 120 million years old and dates from the Cretaceous period. This extra large specimen has come from the remote Mahajanga region in the north west of Madagascar. Madagascar is a country with an international reputation for the wonderful variety of fossils and also minerals that can be found there.
Ammonites have been extinct for 65 million years. They are a form of Cephalopod, a group of marine molluscs. Ammonites were plankton feeders, with long tentacles, and swam upright. Altogether, there were in the region of four thousand different species. Ammonites became extinct 65 million years ago, at the same time as the dinosaurs. Although Ammonites themselves have long been extinct, the squid and octopus that swim in our seas now, are closely related. Ammonites range in size from 1mm wide up to metre across. They swam in the shallow tropical seas that existed in this area millions of years ago. Apart from these Jurassic Coast ammonites, see others listed under Ammonites.
