Description
Engonoceras serpentinum Juvenile Ammonite Fossil
A Genuine Lower Cretaceous Fossil from Texas
This authentic juvenile ammonite is identified as Engonoceras serpentinum and was collected in the Fort Worth area of Texas, USA. It comes from the Pawpaw Formation of the Washita Group and dates to the Upper Albian interval of the Lower Cretaceous. The listing photographs show the exact specimen you will receive, including its natural preservation, visible shell form, matrix and individual surface character. Please use the dedicated sizing photograph for full dimensions.
Geological Setting
The Albian was the final stage of the Early Cretaceous, spanning an interval before the beginning of the Late Cretaceous approximately 100.5 million years ago. During the Upper Albian, much of north-central Texas lay close to a broad, shallow marine seaway. Sediment accumulated across coastal and offshore environments, creating the varied mudstones, sands and fossil-bearing beds now grouped within the Washita succession.
The Pawpaw Formation is recognised for preserving a diverse marine fauna. Its fossils provide evidence for ancient communities that lived in and around the Cretaceous sea, including ammonites, bivalves, gastropods, crustaceans and other invertebrates. A specimen with recorded formation and locality data can be placed within this geological story, making its provenance an important part of its value. This ammonite is therefore both an appealing natural object and a direct record of a vanished Texas marine environment.
About Engonoceras serpentinum
Engonoceras was a Cretaceous ammonite with a tightly coiled shell and characteristic sutural and shell features used by palaeontologists for identification. Engonoceratid ammonites are well represented in deposits associated with warm epicontinental seas. This example is a juvenile Engonoceras serpentinum, preserving an early stage in the animal’s growth. Juvenile specimens can be particularly interesting because they show shell proportions and ornament before the mature form was reached.
Like other ammonites, the living animal occupied the outer body chamber of a shell divided internally by septa. The older chambers assisted with buoyancy, enabling the cephalopod to move through the water column. Ammonites were related to living squid, cuttlefish and nautiluses, but their extraordinary range of shell forms disappeared during the end-Cretaceous extinction. Because ammonite lineages evolved relatively quickly and occurred across wide marine areas, their fossils are valuable tools for comparing and dating sedimentary rocks.
Natural Preservation
Every fossil has passed through burial, mineralisation, compaction, erosion and discovery. As a result, this specimen may display natural matrix, weathered areas, mineral colour, fine cracks, small losses or uneven surfaces. Such features are part of its geological history rather than modern manufacturing flaws. Please examine all images carefully, as they provide the clearest guide to the fossil’s precise condition. The photographs show this individual specimen and no substitute will be supplied.
Collecting and Display
This compact juvenile ammonite is suitable for a Cretaceous fossil collection, educational geology set, natural-history cabinet or palaeontology display. Its named species, Upper Albian age, Pawpaw Formation provenance and Fort Worth locality make it especially relevant to collectors of American fossils, Texas geology, ammonites or ancient marine life. It can also make a thoughtful gift for a fossil enthusiast, geology student or collector building a representative sequence of Mesozoic cephalopods.
Authenticity and Provenance
This is a genuine fossil specimen that has been carefully selected for collecting interest. It includes a generic Certificate of Authenticity card carrying a lifetime guarantee of authenticity. Its documented provenance is Pawpaw Formation, Washita Group, Upper Albian, Lower Cretaceous, Fort Worth, Texas, USA. Retaining this information with the specimen will help preserve its scientific and historical context. Full measurements are shown in the photograph, and the fossil pictured is the exact Engonoceras serpentinum juvenile offered in this listing.
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