XXL - Very large and rare beautiful ammonite fossil polished on both sides. Perfect details and cristals. There can be found 2 times a piece of pyriet in this slice what is very rare in a ammonite. (see last pictures) High quality ammonite with bright colors. Comes with the steel black stand. This xl ammonite is 26.4cm high without stand! Weight 1822gram This decorative ammonite fossil (Cleoniceras cleon) has been cut and polished to reveal the spectacular mineralization of the flotation chambers. It dates back to the Lower Cretaceous (145 to 100 million years old) and was collected near Toliara (Tulear) in Southwestern Madagascar. A gorgeous piece of natural history! A great gift for fossil, mineral, and science enthusiasts or someone simply looking for a beautiful display piece. Ammonites have intrigued and fascinated humans for thousands of years. Many cultures - from Australian aboriginals to the ancient Egyptians - collected and treasured these prehistoric and beautiful fossils. Perhaps it has something to do with the Fibonacci spiral pattern of their shell, which mirrors the galaxies. Ammonites belong to the mollusca phylum in a class known as cephalopods – “head-footed” creatures such as octopus and squid. They swam in ancient oceans from the Devonian Period, about 400 million years ago, to their extinction along with the dinosaurs in the Cretaceous Period, 65 million years ago. Ammonites were free floating invertebrates that were attacked by plesiosaurs and mosasaurs, two groups of gigantic marine reptiles. One way that ammonites could avoid an attack was to quickly change their buoyancy levels, zig zagging and sinking rapidly.