Ammonite

Object/Artifact

-

Crater Rock Museum

Name/Title

Ammonite

Entry/Object ID

2011.57.130

Description

Crystal System: Hexagonal System Description: Phylum: Mollusca Class: Cephalopoda Genus: Ammonoidea Common Name: Ammonite Age: Devonian to Cretaceous Location: Unknown Description: Partial large section of an ammonite. Detail is fairly good with only the large outer structure present. Color is light to medium tan. Physical Characteristics: Ammonites (/'æm?na?ts/) are an extinct group of marine invertebrate animals in the subclass Ammonoidea of the class Cephalopoda. These molluscs are more closely related to living coleoids (i.e. octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish) than they are to shelled nautiloids such as the living Nautilus species.Ammonites are excellent index fossils, and it is often possible to link the rock layer in which they are found to specific geological time periods. Their fossil shells usually take the form of planispirals, although there were some helically-spiraled and non-spiraled forms (known as heteromorphs).The name ammonite, from which the scientific term is derived, was inspired by the spiral shape of their fossilized shells, which somewhat resemble tightly coiled rams' horns. Pliny the Elder (d. 79 AD. near Pompeii) called fossils of these animals ammonis cornua ("horns of Ammon") because the Egyptian god Ammon (Amun) was typically depicted wearing ram's horns.[1] Often the name of an ammonite genus ends in -ceras, which is Greek (???a?) for "horn". Fracture: Conchoidal Genus: Ammonoidea Grain Size: Fine Hardness: 3 Calcite Kingdom: Animalia (Animals) Luster: Vitreous Class: Cephalopopda Phylum: Mollusca Rock Origin: Terrestrial Rock Type: Sedimentary Streak: white

Collection

Museum Collection of Fossils

Acquisition

Accession

2011.57

Source or Donor

Museum Collection of Fossils

Acquisition Method

Long-term Loan

Dimensions

Width

4-7/8 in

Depth

2-1/2 in

Length

8-3/4 in

Location

Location

Drawer

Center

Shelf

Bottom, Bottom

Wall

North

Room

Delmar Smith Hall

Building

Crater Rock Museum

Category

Permanent

Moved By

Steve Miller

Date

August 9, 2011

Location

Container

Right

Drawer

Bottom

Shelf

Right

Cabinet

Case # 2

Wall

West

Room

Fossil Room

Building

Crater Rock Museum

Category

Permanent