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Ammonites were shelled cephalopods that died out about 66 million years ago. Fossils of them are found all around the world, sometimes in very large concentrations. The often tightly wound shells of ammonites may be a familiar sight, but how much do you know about the animals that once lived inside? What were ammonites?
Ammonites were marine animals belonging to the phylum Mollusca and the class Cephalopoda. They had a coiled external shell similar to that of the modern nautilus. In other living cephalopods, e.g. octopus, squid and cuttlefish, the shells are small and internal, or absent.
Scientists have identified more than 10,000 ammonite species, such as Arnioceras semocostatum pictured here, and use their shells to date other fossils.
Jul 6, 2023 · Ammonite fossils form when the remains of ammonites are buried in sediment, such as mud or sand, and undergo a process called fossilization, which involves the replacement or preservation of the organic material by minerals.
6 days ago · Ammonite extinction at the end of the dinosaur era was not inevitable. Ammonites were flourishing shortly before their extinction. New research suggests that the iconic marine molluscs would probably have survived for longer had Earth not been struck by a meteorite 66 million years ago.
May 30, 2019 · Sharing ammonite fossils from the Smithsonian’s collection, Lucy explains what ammonites are and how scientists use their fossils to understand what they looked like, what they ate, and how they lived.
Ammonites are a distinctive class of extinct invertebrates within the Phylum Mollusca. These spectacular looking marine animals thrived in the Paleozoic and Mesozoic Eras, which equates to approximately 408 to 65 million years ago.
Dec 7, 2021 · A remarkably well-preserved ammonite discovered more than two decades ago has revealed soft tissue - including muscles and organs - in three dimensions for the first time. A new analysis of the fossil has allowed close inspection of the creature's inner workings, shedding light on how it moved and protected itself.
5 days ago · To overcome this issue, the team assembled a new database of Late Cretaceous ammonite fossils to help fill in the sampling gaps in their record. "We drew on museum collections to provide new ...
Jan 15, 2021 · The new film Ammonite — named for the whorl-shelled cephalopod fossil commonly found in Lyme Regis and sold as a “curios” in Anning’s time — is a fictionalised sensual love story between...
