Description
This is a German Fossil Ammonite Dactylioceras Cephalopod. It is from the Jurassic Period of Germany.
This spiral cephalopod comes from an area no longer accessible. They come from Schlaifhausen in the area of Erlangen near Nurnberg.
A wonderful example of this German Fossil Ammonite, Dactylioceras Cephalopod. Ammonites were marine creatures that lived in a hard shell. They were cephalopods related to octopus and Squid. But these creatures retained their hard shell. They can be found in large areas of South Dakota. Because of the erosion and weathering of the earth surfaces these can be readily found. But some rock breaking is necessary. Normally when found some shell material remains along with the color.
This German Fossil Ammonite piece is from an upper Jurassic marine formation. And the Posidonian Slate formation is well known for its ammonite fossils. But this area is not accessible any longer. Much of the area in Germany was part of a shallow ocean Seaway. This was a sea that stretched out across much of Europe. So this area was full of marine creatures including fish and others. These Fossil Dactylioceras Ammonite Cephalopod grew to large sizes but even the small ones have great detail.
The German Fossil Ammonite Dactylioceras is related to the modern day octopus but then they had a hard external shell. However the octopus of today has lost their shells. The Ammonite also had tentacles with which it captured it’s food.
This ammonite is roughly 2 inches in circumference.
