First time collecting Ammonoids

[Kato]

As the temperatures are heating up in the desert I'll be moving more into the high country collecting. This will bring me to formations bearing ammonoids. My understanding is I'll be finding  versions of goniatitic ammonoids as opposed to true ammonites that didn't emerge until the Jurassic? I'll be primarily hunting in upper Pennsylvanian or lower Permian formations. These will be new formations to me and difficult to determine the age. There are no stratigraphic maps for the areas I'll be searching to guide me. Hopefully I'll find additional marker beds or fossils that will help date the formations and make them easier to find by association.

 

It appears that obtaining complete specimens will be rare as the best preservations seem to be in dense limestone. Here are a few remnants. Is it possible to discern the species from these limited portions?  Also, is there a good link to understanding and being able to recognize ammonoids from the Pennsylvanian to Permian? From what little I can read from research papers for our geology they have not been studied well and there is little reference to them. 

 

The specimens range from the smallest being 150mm to largest being 200 mm (6"  - 8") in diameter. I feel the preservation is generally nice but finding complete specimens will be pure luck.

 

Thank you for any beginners tips and guidance. 

 

Kato

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[rocket]

incredible ammonite, great find!!

reminds me to a jurassic or cretaceous Lytoceras-type

Edited April 17 by rocket

[FossilDAWG]

Nice cephalopods.  They aren't Lytoceras or anything close, as the slightly wavy lines are suture lines not ribs.  They don't have any real saddles or lobes, so I think you'll have to look for an ID amongst the nautiloids, not goniatites or ammonoids.

 

Don

[Kato]

4 minutes ago, FossilDAWG said:

Nice cephalopods.  They aren't Lytoceras or anything close, as the slightly wavy lines are suture lines not ribs.  They don't have any real saddles or lobes, so I think you'll have to look for an ID amongst the nautiloids, not goniatites or ammonoids.

 

Don

 

Don, thanks for pointing me in the correct direction.