Superb Placenticeras Bear Paw Shale Ammonite

Description: This is a superbly-prepared specimen of the ammonite Placenticeras meeki. All the exterior shell has been removed and then polished to reveal the finest suture detail on both sides of this impressive ammonite. This genus is characterized by a broad unornamented disc-like shape. The complex suture pattern, which afforded strength to the shell at minimum weight is seen here in all its detail.

The Cretaceous Bearpaw Shale formation from which this ammonite originates outcrops in the United States and Canada, and is famous for many types of ammonite fossils it contains. See my other ammonite offerings for an example from Canada which preserves some of the original shell on one side.