Description
Sonninia (Papilliceras) papillata Ammonite Fossil – Inferior Oolite Group, Middle Jurassic, Dorset
This genuine Sonninia (Papilliceras) papillata ammonite fossil is a highly collectable Middle Jurassic marine cephalopod specimen from the Inferior Oolite Group at Burton Bradstock, Dorset, UK. Dating from the Bajocian Stage of the Middle Jurassic, approximately 170 to 168 million years old, this fossil represents an ammonite from the warm shallow seas that once covered southern Britain during the Jurassic Period.
This fossil is a genuine specimen and includes a Certificate of Authenticity lifetime guarantee generic card. It has been carefully chosen as an individual fossil specimen, with a photo that shows the actual piece you will receive. Full sizing please see photo.
Geology and Geological Age
Sonninia (Papilliceras) papillata comes from the Inferior Oolite Group, one of the classic Middle Jurassic fossil-bearing units of southern England. The Inferior Oolite is famous for its marine limestones, oolitic sediments, shell-rich beds and important ammonite faunas. These rocks were deposited during the Bajocian Stage, when Britain lay much closer to the equator and was surrounded by warm, shallow, carbonate-rich seas.
The name “oolite” refers to small rounded carbonate grains known as ooids, which formed in agitated shallow marine water. These grains accumulated alongside shell fragments, carbonate mud and the remains of marine animals, later hardening into limestone. Fossils from the Inferior Oolite Group can include ammonites, belemnites, bivalves, brachiopods, gastropods, echinoids, corals and other marine invertebrates.
Fossil Type and Species
This specimen belongs to Sonninia (Papilliceras) papillata, a Middle Jurassic ammonite associated with Bajocian marine deposits. Sonninia is a well-known Jurassic ammonite genus within the order Ammonitida and is generally placed within the family Sonniniidae. The subgenus Papilliceras is recognised for distinctive shell characters within this ammonite group.
Ammonites were extinct marine cephalopods related to modern squid, octopus and cuttlefish. Unlike their living relatives, ammonites possessed an external coiled shell divided internally into chambers. The living animal occupied the outer body chamber, while the older chambers helped regulate buoyancy, allowing the ammonite to move through the water column in ancient seas.
Morphology and Collectable Features
Sonninia ammonites are admired for their classic Jurassic form and attractive natural ornamentation. Depending on preservation and growth stage, Sonninia (Papilliceras) papillata may show a coiled shell with visible whorls, ribbing, shell curvature, chamber structure, natural matrix contact, mineral replacement or sutural detail.
The ribbing and shell sculpture were part of the original shell structure and can be important for identification. These features may have helped strengthen the shell and also give the fossil its distinctive visual character. In well-preserved examples, suture lines may be visible as intricate patterns marking where the internal chamber walls met the outer shell. These sutures are among the key features used by palaeontologists when studying ammonite classification and evolution.
This fossil is especially desirable because it combines a named ammonite species, a recognised Jurassic group, a clear Bajocian age and a classic Dorset coastal locality.
Burton Bradstock and the Jurassic Coast
Burton Bradstock in Dorset is part of the world-famous Jurassic Coast region, an area internationally recognised for its outstanding geological record. The coastal cliffs and inland exposures around Dorset preserve a remarkable sequence of Mesozoic rocks, including important Jurassic fossil-bearing beds.
The Inferior Oolite Group at Burton Bradstock is particularly valued by fossil collectors because it records a rich Middle Jurassic marine environment. A Sonninia (Papilliceras) papillata ammonite from this locality is a strong addition to collections focused on British fossils, Jurassic ammonites, Dorset geology, marine cephalopods and natural history specimens from the UK.
Depositional Environment
This ammonite was preserved in sediments laid down beneath a warm Bajocian sea. The environment would have included shallow carbonate waters, oolitic shoals, shell banks and areas of marine sediment accumulation. After the ammonite died, its shell settled onto the sea floor and became buried among carbonate grains, shell debris and fine sediment.
Over millions of years, burial, compaction and mineral-rich groundwater transformed the remains into a fossil. The resulting specimen is a natural record of marine life from Middle Jurassic Dorset, when ammonites were abundant and diverse across the seas of Europe.
Authenticity and Display
This is a genuine Sonninia (Papilliceras) papillata ammonite fossil from the Inferior Oolite Group, Middle Jurassic, Bajocian of Burton Bradstock, Dorset, UK. It includes a Certificate of Authenticity lifetime guarantee generic card and is suitable for fossil collectors, geology enthusiasts, educational collections, natural history displays, cabinet display or as a distinctive gift for anyone interested in prehistoric marine life.
The fossil has been carefully selected, and the photo shows the actual specimen you will receive. Full sizing please see photo.
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