{"product_id":"uncut-ammonite-with-rainbow-flash-natural-aperature-exposed-suture-madagascar","title":"uncut Ammonite with rainbow flash, natural aperature, \u0026 exposed suture; Madagascar","description":"\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003eAmmonites are fossilized cephalopod; extinct marine animals that lived in shells during the \u003cspan\u003eEarly Cretaceous period, roughly 110 million years ago.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003eThese \u003cspan\u003e\u003cem\u003eCleoniceras\u003c\/em\u003e; \u003c\/span\u003ecoil-shelled, many-tentacled mollusks disappeared after the dinosaur-killing asteroid strike, in one of the worst mass extinctions of all time.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003eThis ammonite is mostly still in its chambered shell; that shell has built up micro-layers of nacre (aragonite), and when\u003cspan\u003e light hits the stacked crystalline aragonite plates, it refracts and produces brilliant flashes of colour. The spacing and thickness of the layers dictate which colors you see. This piece has beautiful rainbow flash.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn some areas the shell was removed and you can see squiggles- those are the suture lines. The lines represent the structural walls (septa) that divided the  growing creature’s shell into individual chambers.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAlso, this fossil has had the aperature preserved- thats the branched part at the end of the coil where the tentacles would have extended from.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003eInteresting factoid: \u003cbr\u003eIt is believed that the original discus used by the ancient Greeks in their Olympics was a fossilized ammonite.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003eFrom the Mahajanga region of Madagascar. Has been stabilized with resin to protect the fragile outer shell.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003eMeasures roughly 3.5” x 2.5”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Bede Fay: Crystal \u0026 Mineral Collection","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45737222570018,"sku":null,"price":72.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0808\/9554\/1282\/files\/44ECB885-1297-43DD-9F94-36DB5071BFC4.jpg?v=1780872062","url":"https:\/\/www.bedefay.com\/products\/uncut-ammonite-with-rainbow-flash-natural-aperature-exposed-suture-madagascar","provider":"Bede Fay: Crystal \u0026 Mineral Collection","version":"1.0","type":"link"}