Salfeldiella Guettardi Ammonite Fossil Cretaceous USSR COA Aptian North Caucasus Kurdjips Genuine Display Fossil

Description

Genuine Salfeldiella guettardi Ammonite Fossil from Kurdjips, North Caucasus

This is a genuine Salfeldiella guettardi ammonite fossil from Kurdjips, North Caucasus, USSR, dating to the Aptian Stage of the Cretaceous Period. This carefully chosen fossil represents an authentic marine cephalopod from the ancient Cretaceous seas that once covered parts of the Caucasus region. With its named species, defined geological age, and strong locality interest, this specimen is an excellent addition for collectors of ammonites, USSR fossils, Cretaceous marine fossils, and natural history display pieces.

The photograph shows the actual fossil specimen you will receive. Full sizing can be seen in the photo. This fossil also includes a Certificate of Authenticity lifetime guarantee generic card, making it suitable for fossil collections, educational displays, geology teaching, cabinet display, or as a distinctive gift for anyone interested in prehistoric marine life.

Fossil Type and Species

Salfeldiella guettardi is an ammonite, an extinct marine cephalopod related to modern squid, cuttlefish, and nautilus. Ammonites lived inside coiled, chambered shells. The animal occupied the final outer body chamber, while the earlier internal chambers helped regulate buoyancy, allowing it to move through the water column of the ancient sea.

The genus Salfeldiella is associated with Cretaceous ammonite faunas and is valued by collectors for its distinctive coiled shell form and palaeontological interest. As an ammonite, it belongs to the order Ammonitida, one of the major groups of coiled cephalopods that became especially diverse during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Ammonites are among the most important fossils in geology because their rapid evolution and wide distribution allow them to be used as guide fossils for dating and correlating marine rock layers.

Aptian Cretaceous Age

This fossil dates to the Aptian Stage of the Cretaceous, approximately 125 to 113 million years ago. The Aptian was a time of warm climates, high sea levels, and widespread marine environments across many parts of the world. During this interval, ammonites were abundant and diverse, occupying many ecological roles in the prehistoric seas.

In the Aptian seas, ammonites such as Salfeldiella lived alongside nautiloids, bivalves, gastropods, echinoids, brachiopods, fish, and marine reptiles. Their chambered shells allowed them to regulate buoyancy, while their tentacled bodies enabled them to move, feed, and survive as active marine animals. After death, the empty shell could settle onto the sea floor, become buried by sediment, and slowly fossilise over millions of years.

Kurdjips, North Caucasus Geological Setting

The locality of Kurdjips in the North Caucasus, USSR places this ammonite within an important Cretaceous marine region. The Caucasus is geologically significant because its sedimentary rocks record ancient seaways connected with the wider Tethyan marine realm. These seas allowed ammonites and other marine organisms to spread across broad areas, creating fossil assemblages that are useful for understanding Cretaceous palaeogeography and marine evolution.

Sediments in this type of setting were deposited in marine conditions, often as muds, marls, limestones, silts, or sandy layers depending on local water depth, current activity, and sediment supply. Over time, burial, mineral replacement, pressure, and natural weathering preserved shells such as Salfeldiella as fossils. Any natural matrix, colour variation, mineral staining, shell texture, compression, or surface wear forms part of the specimen’s genuine geological character.

Morphology and Display Features

Salfeldiella guettardi has the classic coiled ammonite form that makes these fossils instantly recognisable. The shell is planispiral, meaning it coils in a flat spiral with whorls growing outward as the animal matured. Depending on preservation, the fossil may show ribbing, whorl shape, growth lines, chamber features, shell texture, natural mineral colour, or matrix attachment.

The visible spiral structure records the growth of the ammonite during life, while the ornament and shell form reflect features used by palaeontologists when comparing ammonite groups. Natural marks and variations are part of the fossil’s authenticity and help show its long history from living marine animal to preserved Cretaceous fossil.

Collectable Cretaceous Ammonite with Certificate of Authenticity

This Salfeldiella guettardi ammonite fossil is a genuine specimen and includes a Certificate of Authenticity lifetime guarantee generic card. It has been selected as an individual piece, with the photograph showing the exact fossil supplied rather than a stock image.

With its Aptian Cretaceous age, Kurdjips, North Caucasus locality, and named species identification, this fossil is a desirable specimen for collectors of ammonites, Russian fossils, Cretaceous cephalopods, educational geology pieces, and authentic prehistoric marine life.