Item Number
438
Type
image
Description
Ammonite
Size
14 X 9
Age
~ Mesozoic, Cretaceous
Status
in inventory
Display/Storage
Display
Building
Gardiner Hall
Original Site
South Dakota
Date Acquired
1995
Gallery/Room\Floor
Entryway
Notes
This specimen displays excellent sutures. Ammonites, related to the modern-day nautilus, are from a group of extinct marine mollusks in the subclass Ammonoidea. These predatory sea creatures maintained a diet of shrimp, starfish, and other small marine animals. In modern times ammonite fossils are used as index fossils because of their wide geographic distribution, well-defined period of existence in Earth’s history, and their ability to be easily identified at the species level. Index fossils are used to help determine the relative age of rock layers.
Preview

Description
This specimen displays excellent sutures. Ammonites, related to the modern-day nautilus, are from a group of extinct marine mollusks in the subclass Ammonoidea. These predatory sea creatures maintained a diet of shrimp, starfish, and other small marine animals. In modern times ammonite fossils are used as index fossils because of their wide geographic distribution, well-defined period of existence in Earth’s history, and their ability to be easily identified at the species level. Index fossils are used to help determine the relative age of rock layers. 16x13
Keywords
Ammonite This specimen displays excellent sutures. Ammonites, related to the modern-day nautilus, are from a group of extinct marine mollusks in the subclass Ammonoidea. These predatory sea creatures maintained a diet of shrimp, starfish, and other small marine animals. In modern times ammonite fossils are used as index fossils because of their wide geographic distribution, well-defined period of existence in Earth’s history, and their ability to be easily identified at the species level. Index fossils are used to help determine the relative age of rock layers. 1995 ~ Mesozoic, Cretaceous Fossil
Keywords
Ammonite This specimen displays excellent sutures. Ammonites, related to the modern-day nautilus, are from a group of extinct marine mollusks in the subclass Ammonoidea. These predatory sea creatures maintained a diet of shrimp, starfish, and other small marine animals. In modern times ammonite fossils are used as index fossils because of their wide geographic distribution, well-defined period of existence in Earth’s history, and their ability to be easily identified at the species level. Index fossils are used to help determine the relative age of rock layers. 1995 ~ Mesozoic, Cretaceous Fossil