Name/Title
AmmoniteEntry/Object ID
78.57.166Description
Crystal System: Hexagonal System
Description: Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Cephalopoda
Subclass: Ammonidea
Common Name: Ammonite
Age: Devonian to Cretaceous
Location: Kansas (?)
Description: One straight piece of fossil ammonite showing the characteristic suture pattern of the ammonoidea. Probably a straight-shelled animal like a Baculite, which is an uncoiled ammonite. Baculites have a straight shell except for a small spiral at the initial stage. Color is dark brown with slight green cast. Note that this specimen is mistakenly labeled 78.57.167 .
Physical Characteristics:
Ammonites 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. Often the name of an ammonite genus ends in -ceras, which is Greek 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: whiteCollection
Fossil CollectionAcquisition
Accession
78.57Source or Donor
Delmar Smith Fossil CollectionAcquisition Method
DonationDimensions
Width
1-11/16 inDepth
1-3/16 inLength
2-1/8 inLocation
Location
Container
LeftDrawer
2nd ShelfShelf
Left, LeftWall
NorthRoom
Delmar Smith HallBuilding
Crater Rock MuseumCategory
PermanentMoved By
Steve MillerDate
February 20, 2012Location
Container
LeftDrawer
Top ShelfShelf
RightCabinet
Case # 2Wall
WestRoom
Fossil RoomBuilding
Crater Rock MuseumCategory
Permanent
