AmmoniteInterestingly, ammonites are thought to have become extinct at the same time as the dinosaurs. Having lived during the Jurassic and Cretaceous Period, these interesting marine animals often had a spiral shell that is similar to the modern day nautilus. Although they are similar in appearance to the nautilus, their closest living relatives are the octopus and squid.
When you see this fossil, you are seeing the exoskeleton, which would have been buried in sediment and then over time, solidified into rock. The soft tissue on the inside is not usually preserved. We sell sliced ammonite pairs in a small size (about the size of a quarter) and in sizes of up to 20 cm!
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Red Flash AmmoniteRed Flash Opalized ammonites lived during the Early Crustaceous period (100-113 million years ago) and ours come from the island of Madagascar, which sits off of the SE coastline of Africa, in the Indian Ocean. The red and green iridescences in their shells is from the mineral, aragonite.
DID YOU KNOW?
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White AmmoniteAmmonites are one of the most plentiful fossils found on earth, having lived from 240 million years ago to 65 million years ago, when they
disappeared at the same time as the dinosaurs. It is thought that our white ammonites are Perisphinctes ammonites; which livroced during the Jurassic Period, approximately 160 million years ago. COOL FACTS:
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Ammonite, PyritizedCURRENTLY OUT OF STOCK
This video demonstrates how to draw the Golden Ratio/Spiral using the Fibonacci Sequence and a compass. |
BrachiopodEarth Treasures' brachiopods come to us from Morocco. These invertebrates lived in the ocean during the Cretaceous Period, approximately 100 million years ago.
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Calymene Trilobite TRILOBITE FUN FACTS
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Fossil Fish |
Fossil Fish Tooth |
Megalodon
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Our wonderful specimens of fossil fish can be found in our own wonderful state! One of the most abundant sources of fossil fish in the world, the Green River Formation is an area covering southwest Wyoming, Utah and Colorado. Our fossil fish come from this area.
• The fossil fish that we provide to schools lived approximately 50 million years ago. • To watch a 30 minute video on how this area was formed, click here. |
Our fossil fish teeth are from the species, Enchodus. Although they closely resemble today's salmon, they are often called the "sabre-toothed herring." We sell the "fang" tooth of these predators.
This "saber-toothed" fish lived during the Cretaceous-Early Eocene period, 90-50 million years ago. The image below is a cast of the Enchodus. Image Source: https://twitter.com/mosasaurologist |
PLEASE NOTE: Our megalodon shark teeth are partial teeth, as that makes them affordable for students.
WOW! Check these fun facts out:
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Otudus Shark TeethWhen we talk about the top of the food chain, we are talking about Otodus Sharks! They were an apex predator, meaning they had no natural predators. (Other apex predators are killer whales, polar bears, tigers, lions, and saltwater crocodiles, to name a few.) One of the largest sharks of the sea, the otodus shark grew up to 9 meters in length, five times the length of a six foot tall man. Scientists believe this shark was a direct ancestor to the megalodon. It lived during the Cenozoic Era (60-45 million years ago).
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Heliophora Sand Dollars These critters are SO COOL! They have five part symmetry within the star shaped center. These five pores were actually paired rows where the feet projected from the urchin. When alive they were covered in spines. What you see is their exoskeleton.
Their genus name is actually Latin for "Bearer of the sun" because of the finger like projections, which resemble rays of the sun. This blog, The Echinoblog, is an excellent source of information about these strange looking sand dollars. Legend has it that these strange little fossils are coins left by mermaids! |
Bagged Fossil CollectionOur fossil collection is perfect for the budding fossil collector as it contains 12 different fossils with identification cards containing basic information for beginner collectors on each card.
The kits normally contain the following fossils:
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Fossilized
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Orthoceras |
Petrified Wood |
One of my favorite fossils! They are so beautiful when the star is prominent!
Did you know that the sale dollars we provide:
You may enjoy watching this video of fossil hunters in Florida searching for sand dollars. I love these guys as they pick up the trash as well as finding awesome fossils! |
The 400 million year old relative of today's squid, the orthoceras grew in segments or chambers. When its house got to be too small, a dividing wall grew between the old home and the new larger home (chamber); the marine animal moved in.
At Earth Treasures, we sell small2-3" long orthoceras, larger 4-7" specimens, and even larger artistic towers, stand ups and plates. They are our earth's natural artworks! |
Petrified wood is one fantastic fossil! It happens to be a favorite of ours here at Earth Treasures. We carry pocket sized petrified wood from Oregon and Arizona, and larger sizes from Madagascar. Petrification of wood occurs over millions of years and can be found all over the world. Normally trees decay from being exposed to oxygen and organisms that break down the wood. However, when a tree is buried by sedimentation or volcanic ash, it is not exposed to oxygen or small organisms who help the decay. Thus it decays quite slowly, over millions of years. And over time, ground water flows through the tree leaving behind minerals which take the place of the the inside of the tree. The tree keeps its structure and the minerals turn to stone! Check out this 2 Minute video on petrification! It is A.MA.ZING! You should also see and read this from The Kid Should See This website. It is a National Geographic Kids video and is perfect to see how petrified wood is formed. |