ID fossil Port Mulgrave

[AlexanderFerdinand]

Found this fossil at Port Mulgrave, North Yorkshire last week. Overall length about 5 cm. I thought maybe it is a reptile (croc?) skull. The tiny spikes look like teeth. The bottom side may be the lower jaw, it has got these spikes on both sides. Thanks for helping :-).

Sander Arendsen, Netherlands

[TqB]

Hi, welcome to the forum. Not croc I'm afraid but a cross section through an ammonite, the "teeth" being ribs on the shell.

[AlexanderFerdinand]

Thanks Tarquin. Needs an expert to see this. Cheers, Sander

[abyssunder]

Tarquin is right,it's part of an ammonite. Pic 1 shows the coiled whorls in transverse section, with the spiky external ornamentation of the shell visible laterally as "teeth". In pic 3 is visible the interconnection of chambers of the ammonite. Nice find!

[Auspex]

It is an interesting sectional view; an ammonite CAT scan, as it were.

[jpc]

I agree...not a skull. In the first picture, the teeth on the left look pretty convincing, but as you move to the right, the teeth are not as isolated as the left ones and they all meld into on big multitooth. This is a big clue, tome...not a skull.

[AlexanderFerdinand]

Thanks for all your help.

[ZiggieCie]

Welcome to the Forum, glad to have you with us, and thx for a glimpse into your world. From Northern Ohio, USA