Description: Imagine holding in your hand a 110 million year old fossil. Some ammonites are much older than that, up to 450 million years old. Even older than the dinosaurs. Oceans at the time were teeming with life. Predators were everywhere. And it was a live fast, or die hard world for the ammonites. In fact, ammonites closely resemble modern squids, octopus and the chambered nautilus. Ammonites were carnivores as well. Fossils were once found only in museums - NOW you can OWN one!!! You can hold in your hand a part of the ancient fossil record from the time the dinosaurs roamed the earth. This is the NEW batch from Madagascar. I brought in for Tucson with some of the best color and deepest cavities/pockets around, excellent batch!!! Super nice crystals, absolutely the best I have seen in years. Description: Ammonite Pair Split, Cut and Polished Cleoniceras - These most colorful ammonites come from Madagascar, off the coast of Africa. Cleoniceras is the most common type in Madagascar. 99% of the ammonites found in Madagascar are this species, with a smooth shell and angled segments. The animal actually lived in the very last segments. Variations in price are due to color differences and how many crystal cavities (or open 'cave like' structures) in the segments. On average 110 million years old. Description: Ammonite Pair Split, Cut and Polished. Weight (lbs): 1.19 # Weight (g): 540 gram Size (inches): 5.2" x 4.2" Size (mm): 131 mm x 107 mm Mine location: Madagascar Item Number: e4955 js =n Retail value: $200 ---------------------------------------------------------- Facts about ammonites - Closest living relative - Octopus, Squid, Cuttlefish and it's closest cousin the Nautilus. First appeared - in shallow seas 450 million year ago. Extinct - in a catoclysmic event in the Cretaceous, with the dinosaurs about 65 million years ago. Began life - less than 1 mm in diameter. About the size of a period in this sentence. But they grew fast. Females - reported to grow 400% bigger than males. Shells - comprised of chambers growing as the ammonite did. Making 13 new chambers each year. The ammonite lived in the last section, called the living segment. Medieval Europe - Ammonites were thought to be petrified snakes. They were called "snakestones" or "serpent stones". Ammonites were said to be evidence for the actions of St. Hilda and St. Patrick - who drove the snakes out of Ireland. In ancient times, traders would carve the face of a snake into the wide end of the ammonite fossil and sell them to the public. The name Ammonite - comes from their spiral shape. The fossilized shells somewhat resembled tightly coiled rams' horns. Pliny the Elder (79 A.D. near Pompeii) called these fossils - ammonis cornua ("horns of Ammon") . Because the Egyptian god Amman was typically depicted wearing ram's horns. ----------------------------------------------- Types of ammonites - Cleoniceras - These most colorful ammonites come from Madagascar, off the coast of Africa. Cleoniceras is the most common type in Madagascar. 99% of the ammonites found in Madagascar are this species, with a smooth shell and angled segments. The animal actually lived in the very last segments. Variations in price are due to color differences and how many crystal cavities (or open 'cave like' structures) in the segments. On average 110 million years old. Cymatoceras - Wide body Madagascar ammonites, with "C" shaped cavities. Some stand on their own and do not need stands. Much rarer than the regular narrow body Cleoniceras. More like a Wide Body Nautilus. (Limited quantities) Almost all gone. They are past this level of digging. Perisphinctes - Less than 1% of Madagascar ammonites are this type. Ridges are on the back from a complete different growth pattern. The chambers are also more compact and of a different shape. Frequently one of the most brightly colored. On normal ammonites, the middle is thicker. On Perisphinctes the inner coils are smaller which is a rare occurance among ammonites. These always command a high price. (RARE) ONLY a couple left. NONE in Tucson. (Almost sold out) Anapuzosia - WIDE Body with D shaped segments inside. (Regular Cleoniceras have S shaped segments) These are from a new areas of Madagascar and I am not sure how much longer they will last. Very deep crystal cavities make them desirable. New find of small ones. These will not last, like many on this list they will be past that digging level soon. Then they may not be available (Limited) Phylloceras - WIDE Body with an odd V shape segment. (Regular Cleoniceras have S shaped segments) These are from a new areas of Madagascar and I am not sure how much longer they will last. Very deep crystal cavities make them very desirable. (VERY Limited) Almost sold out. Desmoceras - A Medium Body Ammonite similiar to the thin Cleoniceras, but wider body with a tighter coil of the shell. Usually with V- Shaped segments. Unlike the Cleoniceras which S-Shaped segments. ( were Limited supply) SOLD OUT I keep telling folks, when they are gone they are gone... Goniatites - Curved ammonites from Morocco. Small ones are moderately common. Large ones up to 12" are much rarer and in higher demand as decorator pieces. Even the medium size ones 5-8" are getting very hard to obtain. And the price will continue to rise. The reason? Very few have been found in the last three years. The wide ones frequently stand by themselves, so they are always in high demand. Usually grey, black and white in color. Sometimes in earth tones of brown and tan. Goniatites are frequently 400 million years old, some of the oldest ammonites. (small ones 2-4" are moderately common. Medium and Large are rarer - especially ones over 5". I had to dig under tables at Tucson. Open boxes and then beg the only two suppliers of these to sell me some. They both tried to limit how many any one dealer could get. Had to go back several days and bug them to get the quantity I did.) ONLY a few large ones in Tucson, they found very few this year. The water level is too high. So there will not be anymore. Almost sold out. Check our other listings for these and other types of fine ammonites!!! ------------------------------------------------ New Tucson Ammonite finds: Madagascar: ****NEW FIND*** Spinoceras - Russian BLACK AND PYRITE ammonites. Usually these are high end collector ONLY ammonites. Normally costing $4,000 to $7,000 as they are that RARE. I managed to get my hands on a few reasonably price ones $1,000 for Large ones to $4,000 for the superior size and quality ones. Normally the nice ones are $4,000 to $7,000. It appears the river in Russia this Fall was running very high. The river washed away a large area of the back exposing these RARE ammonites. So instead of seeing maybe 20 in Tucson I saw 200. I jumped on these great find. If I don't sell them online, they go to my Fall shows and the collectors will eat them up. THESE will DEFINITELY NOT LAST. The price will surely rise again.
Price: 55.99 USD
Location: Plano, Texas
End Time: 2024-02-12T02:13:01.000Z
Shipping Cost: 0 USD
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Item Specifics
Restocking Fee: No
Return shipping will be paid by: Seller
All returns accepted: Returns Accepted
Item must be returned within: 30 Days
Refund will be given as: Money Back
Country/Region of Manufacture: Madagascar
