wide variety of beautiful shapes and forms.
Ammonites are the extinct relatives of squid, octopus, cuttlefish and nautilus. They flourished in the oceans of the world from 240 until 66 million years ago. They went extinct along with the non-avian dinosaurs when an asteroid struck the Earth. Most ammonites lived in beautifully coiled spiral shaped shells that grew larger as the animal grew. Some grew to the size of giant truck tires! Others were shaped more like paperclips or funky looking undersea saxophones.