A 250 million year old fossil you need in your collection!
This spiral-shaped fossil, a Goniatite from the Devonian era, is 251 to 390 million years old! These cephalopods lived in shallow seas in tropical to sub-tropical climates. Their spiraled shell had internal compartments which would have been filled with gas to provide buoyancy. The open front chamber acted as the goniatite’s living space. All goniatites possessed an external shell, which is divided internally into chambers filled with gas giving it buoyancy during the life of the animal. An open chamber at the front of the shell provided living space for the goniatitid animal, with access to open water through a ventral siphuncle.
Goniatites survived the Late Devonian extinction to flourish during the Carboniferous and Permian, only to become extinct at the end of the Permian some 139 million years later.
- Images are representative of the specimen you will receive.
