Description
Genuine Neocomoceras flabelliforme Ammonite Fossil
This carefully chosen fossil is a genuine Neocomoceras flabelliforme ammonite from Gignac in the Hérault department of southern France. It dates from the Lower Barremian Stage of the Lower Cretaceous and is associated with the Pulchella Zone, placing it within a well-defined interval of Early Cretaceous marine history.
This identifiable French ammonite combines an attractive ribbed shell, a recognised biostratigraphic position and a documented locality. It is suitable for an established fossil collection, a geological teaching display or a natural-history cabinet devoted to Cretaceous marine life.
The photograph shows the actual fossil specimen you will receive. Its individual coiling, ornamentation, preservation, colour, matrix and natural geological characteristics can therefore be examined before purchase. Full sizing and proportions are shown in the accompanying photograph.
This authentic fossil includes a generic Certificate of Authenticity card with a lifetime guarantee.
Fossil Classification and Geological Details
Scientific name: Neocomoceras flabelliforme
Fossil type: Ammonite
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Cephalopoda
Subclass: Ammonoidea
Order: Ammonitida
Geological period: Cretaceous
Epoch: Early Cretaceous
Stage: Lower Barremian
Ammonite biozone: Pulchella Zone
Locality: Gignac, Hérault, France
Neocomoceras is a genus of Lower Cretaceous ammonites recognised from marine deposits of the Mediterranean or Tethyan region. The species name flabelliforme refers to fan-like characteristics in its shell ornamentation, particularly the arrangement of ribs as they spread across the flanks.
Ammonites are important to palaeontologists because their shell forms changed relatively quickly through geological time. Many species were also distributed across extensive marine areas, allowing particular ammonite assemblages to be used for dating and correlating sedimentary rock layers.
Distinctive Ribbed Shell Morphology
Neocomoceras flabelliforme possessed a planispirally coiled shell, meaning that its whorls developed in a flat spiral around a central umbilicus. Successive whorls partly overlapped earlier growth while retaining a visible central region.
Its most noticeable morphological feature is the strongly ribbed shell surface. Primary ribs begin near the umbilical area and extend outwards across the flanks. They may divide, broaden or become more prominent towards the outer part of the whorl, creating the fan-like pattern reflected in the species name.
The shell may also show a combination of longer primary ribs and shorter intercalated ribs inserted between them. These structures produced a distinctive sculptured surface while helping to strengthen the shell during the animal’s lifetime.
The outermost edge of the shell is known as the venter. Its form, together with the whorl proportions, ribbing style and degree of overlap between successive coils, provides important diagnostic information when comparing closely related ammonite species.
The precise visibility of these features depends on the fossil’s preservation and growth stage. Natural fractures, matrix attachments, mineral deposits, weathered sections and incomplete areas are authentic geological characteristics acquired during fossilisation and later exposure.
Lower Barremian Pulchella Zone
The Barremian is a stage of the Lower Cretaceous situated between the Hauterivian and Aptian stages. It records a significant interval in the development of Cretaceous marine ecosystems and ammonite lineages.
The Pulchella Zone is a recognised ammonite biozone within the Lower Barremian succession. It is named after a characteristic ammonite species used to identify rocks deposited during this part of geological time.
A biozone is a body of sedimentary rock recognised through the presence of a particular fossil species or fossil assemblage. Because ammonites evolved rapidly, they provide palaeontologists with a highly detailed method for dividing marine strata into relatively narrow chronological intervals.
The Pulchella Zone attribution therefore gives this fossil a more precise geological context than the broader Lower Cretaceous designation alone. It connects the specimen with a particular stage in the changing ammonite communities of the ancient western Tethys Ocean.
Cretaceous Geology of Gignac and Hérault
Gignac lies within the Hérault department of the Occitanie region in southern France. The surrounding area contains extensive exposures of Mesozoic sedimentary rocks formed when this part of Europe was influenced by the western Tethys marine realm.
During the Barremian, warm seas covered much of southern France. Fine carbonate mud, clay and the skeletal remains of marine organisms accumulated across the seabed. These sediments were gradually compacted and cemented into limestone, marl and related sedimentary rocks.
The environment supported diverse marine life, including ammonites, belemnites, nautiloids, bivalves, gastropods, brachiopods, echinoids and other invertebrates. Fish and marine reptiles also occupied the surrounding ecosystem.
Later tectonic uplift and erosion exposed these ancient seabed deposits at the surface. Fossils recovered from them provide direct evidence of the animals that inhabited the region during the Early Cretaceous and help reconstruct changes in sea level, water depth and marine connectivity.
Life in the Early Cretaceous Sea
Ammonites were extinct marine cephalopods related to modern squid, cuttlefish, octopuses and nautiluses. The living animal occupied the final and largest portion of its shell, called the body chamber.
The older coiled section was divided into smaller chambers by curved internal walls known as septa. A narrow tube called the siphuncle connected these chambers and helped regulate their liquid and gas content. This provided buoyancy control and allowed the animal to maintain its position within the water column.
Movement was achieved using jet propulsion. Water was drawn into the mantle cavity and expelled through a muscular funnel, pushing the ammonite in the opposite direction. Tentacles surrounding the mouth were probably used to capture small prey, gather food and investigate the surrounding environment.
As the ammonite grew, it added new calcium carbonate material around the shell opening. Additional septa formed behind the living animal, creating the chambered spiral structure now preserved as a fossil.
Natural Fossilisation and Preservation
After death, the ammonite shell settled onto the Barremian seabed. Its soft tissues decayed while sediment entered the empty shell and accumulated around it. Burial helped protect the remains from currents, scavengers and complete destruction.
Over millions of years, pressure compacted the sediment into rock. Mineral-rich groundwater could dissolve, recrystallise or replace the original aragonitic shell material. Sediment filling the shell chambers hardened into an internal mould, preserving the overall coiling and impressions of the original ribbing.
Each fossil has undergone a unique sequence of burial, mineralisation, geological movement and weathering. Differences in texture, colour, completeness and attached matrix are natural features that make every specimen individually distinctive.
This Neocomoceras flabelliforme ammonite is suitable for fossil collectors, ammonite enthusiasts, geology students and educational natural-history displays. The photograph shows the exact carefully chosen specimen you will receive. Full sizing is shown in the photo. A generic Certificate of Authenticity card with a lifetime guarantee is included.
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