A FINE UNCOILED SPINY AMMONITE
A FINE UNCOILED SPINY AMMONITE

FRANCE

Details
A FINE UNCOILED SPINY AMMONITE
FRANCE
From the Hauterivian, Early Cretaceous (circa 133-129 million years ago), the fine 16-inch specimen of Crioceratites nolani prepped on original matrix to form a free-standing sculpture supporting the ammonite showing a state of marvelous preservation.
24 x 16 x 7in. (61 x 40.5 x 17.5cm.)
Literature
Heteromorph : the rarest fossil ammonites : nature at its most bizarre. Wolfgang Gurke. [n.p.]: At One Communications, September 2014

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James Hyslop
James Hyslop

Lot Essay

Still veiled in mystery, the evolutionary benefit of the uncoiled form is still not fully understood. It may have been that this species inhabited the benthic zone, and thus did not require a form suited to swimming. The spiny defences would therefore have been necessary to protect a slow moving animal on the sea floor.
The inner coils of this specimen have been worked away from the matrix to free the specimen to highlight its unusual shape. Countless hours of careful work were required to prepare this specimen to reveal one of the most extraordinary forms that has been sculpted by nature.

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