An exceptional, fine, and well provenanced Ammonite fossil, dating to the Early Jurassic Period (190-175 Million years ago).
A magnificent specimen, one of the finest we have ever seen of this small size and in an exceptional state of preservation. The ammonite was found by Dr. B. Hauff in Holzmaden, Germany c.1930's. Dr. Hauff identifies this ammonite in his inventory as "Hecticoceras perlatum Qu.", and notes that it was found in the brown layer of Jura Epsilon/Zeta along the route of the Reichsautobahn (the new motorways constructed by the Nazis in the early 1930's) from Stuttgart to Ulm. Fossils from this site in Baden Wurtenburg (south-west Germany) are acclaimed as the finest preserved examples in Europe. This is a spectacular ammonite with a fascinating provenance.
The anatomy of the ammonite is easily observed here. The long extinct creature lived in the phragmocone (inside of the shell), which was divided into camerae (chambers) by septae (the prominent lines that run across the coiled shell). The ammonite only lived in the foremost and largest of these chambers, and would form a new chamber when the creature had become too large for the current one. This process of new chamber formation results in the characteristic striated appearance of the ammonite shell. The exquisitely evolved ammonite maintained communication with these old chambers, and used them as an ingenious "buoyancy device", forcing water in and out using the phenomenon of osmosis!
The ammonite was not a bottom dweller, but instead swam at mid-level in the early seas of our planet, an incomprehensibly long time ago. It would have fed on fish and other small creatures, and was itself fed on by dinosaurs. As it spent it's time in mid-water, the ammonite had to be perfectly symmetrical in the vertical plane, to avoid falling over to one side - morphologists refer to this shape as planispiral.
Although ammonites survived numerous extinction phases, they were unable to survive the cataclysmic K-T extinction event, where they perished along with all the dinosaurs.
Diameter of ammonite: 1 inch.
Condition: Extremely well preserved specimen.
Provenance: Ex. Collection of Dr. B. Hauff. Digital images of Dr. Hauff's 1930's type-written inventory will be provided to the winning bidder, upon request.
This is a No Reserve Auction.
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