THE OUTERIRDIC

For 125 million years, this ammonite was encased in the darkness of a hard limestone nodule. Instead of freeing the fossil completely from its context and destroying the surrounding rock in the process, the preparator managed to preserve the nodule in such a way that the ammonite can be removed and admired from all sides, but can also be put back into its usual bed at any time. An almost extraterrestrial beauty!

As it grows, the shell itself changes direction in a bizarre way, so that the initial coils now appear to run towards the observer.