Becheiceras Fossil Ammonite Jurassic Charmouth Lyme Regis Dorset UK – Lower Lias Green Ammonite Beds Specimen with Hand Signed Certificate

Description

Becheiceras Fossil Ammonite from the Jurassic Coast of Dorset

This genuine Becheiceras fossil ammonite originates from the famous Green Ammonite Beds of the Lower Lias Formation at Stonebarrow Cliff near Charmouth, Lyme Regis, Dorset, United Kingdom. The fossil dates to the Early Jurassic Period approximately 190 million years ago, when warm shallow seas covered much of southern Britain.

The cliffs between Charmouth and Lyme Regis form part of the internationally recognised Jurassic Coast UNESCO World Heritage Site, one of the most important fossil locations in the world. The region has produced countless ammonites and marine fossils that have played a major role in the development of palaeontology.

The fossil displayed in the photographs is the exact specimen you will receive, carefully selected for its preservation and natural detail. This specimen includes a fully hand-signed Premium Certificate of Authenticity, confirming that the fossil is a genuine natural specimen.

Please refer to the photographs for full specimen sizing and scale.

About Becheiceras – Early Jurassic Ammonite Cephalopod

Becheiceras is a genus of ammonite belonging to the extinct marine cephalopods that dominated the oceans throughout the Jurassic Period. Ammonites were closely related to modern squid, octopus, and cuttlefish, but unlike their modern relatives they possessed an external coiled shell.

Taxonomic classification:

• Phylum: Mollusca
• Class: Cephalopoda
• Subclass: Ammonoidea
• Order: Ammonitida
• Superfamily: Eoderoceratoidea
• Family: Eoderoceratidae
• Genus: Becheiceras

The genus Becheiceras was named in honour of the pioneering British geologist Henry De la Beche, who played a key role in the early geological study of the Jurassic rocks of southern England.

Ammonites evolved rapidly and developed many distinct shell forms. Because of this rapid evolutionary change, they are widely used by geologists as biostratigraphic index fossils, helping to identify specific layers of rock and accurately date geological formations.

Geological Setting – The Green Ammonite Beds

This fossil comes from the Green Ammonite Beds, a well-known unit within the Lower Lias Formation exposed along the Dorset coastline. These rocks were deposited during the Early Jurassic Pliensbachian Stage in a shallow marine environment.

During this time, the region lay beneath a warm epicontinental sea, where fine carbonate sediments accumulated on the seabed. Over millions of years these sediments hardened into limestone and marl layers that now form the fossil-rich cliffs along the Jurassic Coast.

The Green Ammonite Beds are particularly famous for preserving abundant marine fossils, including:

• Ammonites such as Becheiceras
• Belemnites
• Bivalves and gastropods
• Crinoids and echinoderms
• Marine reptiles including ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs

These sediments accumulated in relatively calm conditions, allowing shells and skeletal remains to be buried and preserved before significant decomposition occurred.

Morphology and Shell Characteristics of Becheiceras

Like all ammonites, Becheiceras possessed a coiled shell known as a planispiral shell, where the whorls expand outward in a spiral around a central axis. Internally the shell is divided into chambers by curved walls called septa, which form intricate suture patterns where they meet the outer shell wall.

Typical morphological features of Becheiceras ammonites include:

• Moderately evolute shell coiling
• Distinct ribbing across the shell surface
• Rounded whorl sections
• Clearly defined growth lines marking stages of shell development

The ammonite lived within the outermost chamber of the shell while the internal chambers were filled with gas or fluid. By regulating the contents of these chambers, the animal could control buoyancy and move through the water column.

These marine cephalopods were active predators that likely fed on small fish, crustaceans, and other marine organisms.

A Genuine Jurassic Coast Fossil with Premium Certificate

This specimen represents an authentic ammonite fossil from one of the most celebrated fossil localities in the world. Fossils from the Dorset coast have been collected and studied since the early discoveries that helped establish the science of palaeontology.

Key features of this fossil include:

• Genuine Becheiceras fossil ammonite
• Geological formation: Green Ammonite Beds, Lower Lias
• Age: Early Jurassic Period, Pliensbachian Stage
• Locality: Stonebarrow Cliff, Charmouth near Lyme Regis, Dorset, United Kingdom
• From the Jurassic Coast UNESCO World Heritage Site
• Classic spiral ammonite morphology
• The exact specimen shown in the photographs
• Includes a fully hand-signed Premium Certificate of Authenticity

This ammonite preserves the elegant spiral shell of an ancient marine cephalopod that lived in the Jurassic seas nearly 190 million years ago, offering collectors a remarkable and authentic fossil from the world-famous Jurassic Coast of Dorset.