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tstark

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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!-1.jpg

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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

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I've never seen something like this before. I'm leaning to a compound element as you suggest, Don. :headscratch:

" 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

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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

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