A PIECE OF SEABED

An incredible number of ammonites inhabited the primordial oceans. In some layers of rock, the fossilised shells lie close together. According to a conservative calculation, the approx. 20 cm thick layer of rock from Bavaria, from which this spectacular piece comes, harbours around 5 trillion ammonites – all of which are still trapped in the rock deep in the earth.

Considering the fact that only a tiny fraction of all ammonites that have ever lived have been fossilised, this is definitely beyond imagination!

Rarely is it possible to recover such a beautiful piece of this rock and prepare it as masterfully as in this find.

A closer look reveals not only almost 50 ammonites belonging to eight different species, but also mussels, tower snails, belemnites, brachiopods, oysters and even a sea urchin spine. There are also several shell fragments that were probably cracked by crabs from the ammonites’ living chambers.