Bizarre Hyphantoceras Heteromorph Ammonite

Description: Heteromorph ammonites are among the most fascinating of all invertebrate-shelled cephalopod fossils. Hyphantoceras reussianum are considered uncommon, and generally limited in distribution to European collectors. Few find their way to the USA. My German dealer associate recently sent this one to me as part of a large exchange. It is very well preserved, featuring a number of twists, turns and angles. Mounted on a small flat-lying matrix base, it is visually and aesthetically stunning. A truly wonderful example of nature’s artistry.

Nostoceratidae was a diverse group of heteromorph ammonites found throughout the oceans of the world during the Late Cretaceous. The nostoceratids are famous for the bizarre coiling of their shells. The ecology of nostoceratids is the subject of continued speculation, as the bizarrely coiled shells have no streamlining, strongly suggesting that the living animals had extraordinarily poor swimming ability, if any ability at all. As such, experts and ammonite enthusiasts presume that the nostoceratids either floated passively in the water column, or were bottom-dwellers that may or may not have crawled on the seafloor. The nostoceratids, as with all other Cretaceous ammonites, perished during the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event.