WHAT IS AN AMMONITE?

Ammonites are extinct relatives of squid. Like today’s octopus, they had tentacles, a large eye and a body from which the animal could expel water in order to move backwards in a jerky motion.

The first ammonites are found in rocks that were deposited in the sea 400 million years ago.

They then dominated life in the world’s oceans for an unimaginable 360 million years.

However, their era came to an end 66 million years ago: at exactly the same time as the dinosaurs became extinct after a huge meteorite impact, the last ammonite also disappeared.