Ammonite bite

[Jed]

Help!  this Ammonite (Oxytropisoceras so?) is about 8 inches across, its from Texas, does this look like a bite mark? any idea what would have done the biting? I've done some searching but just don't seem to be finding this "type" of bite (maybe my daughter's 4 year old?)

 

 

[Macrophyseter]

I'm no expert, but it looks more like some sort of crack from erosion to me.

[Miocene_Mason]

Doesn't look like a bite to me either, unless somewhere out there zigzagosauruses bones are waiting to be found.

[Al Dente]

Your ammonite is a steinkern which means the shell dissolved away leaving the lithified sediment inside. It is the sediment that has the "bite mark" not the ammonite. The damage occurred after the ammonite died and filled with sediment.

[RJB]

Looks to me like parts just fell apart from erosion?

 

RB

[caldigger]

Your daughter's four year old would have to have some very sturdy teeth!

[Jed]

Ha, ha, oh well!

Thank you all for the replies!

[BobWill]

Most teeth either crush, slice or puncture their prey so I'm inclined to agree it's not a bite mark but it is also unlike typical breaks or erosion either, at least in my limited experience. It would be great to know what would cause that pattern. I'm guessing we will never know but maybe someone has experience with this break pattern they will share. Did this oxy come from Flat Creek?

[RuMert]

Ammonites do happen to have bite marks but they definitely affect the shell only and don't reflect on the matrix which fills the shell afterwards. The shell itself is thin and hollow