tstark Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 So this came to me in in pieces and it was been repaired and I still have no ideas or what it could be. All I know is thats is from morocco (unknown region), it looks to have "suckers" on the end of the piece which throws me. I have had the thought of a marine plant root of some kind. Thanks for the help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFOOLEY Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 A heteromorph ammonite. "I am glad I shall never be young without wild country to be young in. Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?" ~Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) New Mexico Museum of Natural History Bulletins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 I agree with pfooley, a heteromorph ammonite. Nice one too! Tony Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys." Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough." My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection My favorite thread on TFF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tstark Posted January 11, 2017 Author Share Posted January 11, 2017 thanks for the quick answers and help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 Some of us steered this kind of course when we were young Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 I'm a little uncertain about this one being a heteromorph ammonite. First, the straight shaft seems to have chambers, but if those really are chambers their edges (suture lines) look to be straight across, as you would see in a nautiloid not an ammonite. Perhaps a closer picture would resolve the question. Also the smaller diameter shaft is oddly irregular. There are heteromorphs that have a number of straight shafts that are connected by hairpin turns, such as Diplomoceras or Polyptychoceras, and there are heteromorphic ammonites and also nautiloids that start with a normal planispiral shell that then straightens out; Baculites and Litulites would be examples. However I am unaware of any cephalopods that start with such an irregular, vaguely twisty whorl and then transition via a hairpin curve to a perfectly straight shaft. Has anyone seen this growth form before? Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abyssunder Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 I've never seen something like this before. I'm leaning to a compound element as you suggest, Don. " We are not separate and independent entities, but like links in a chain, and we could not by any means be what we are without those who went before us and showed us the way. " Thomas Mann My Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 I have some bizarre heteromorph ammonites (likely new species) from the Turonian of Texas. So, unusual morphology doesn't bother me too much. However, I agree with Don that better images or direct observation of complex sutures would help confirm an ammonite. Possible causes for the weird shape could be incorrect assembly during prep, a broken ammonite prepped in a way that makes it seem new, or a pathological specimen. The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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