“Bird baths” are the nickname that researchers at the KCAL have dubbed the ammonite fossils because the ones that lie horizontally easily catch rainwater. In life, the creature had several tentacles like an octopus or squid which it could use to grasp its prey, but these fleshy parts did not survive the fossilization process. Found in sandstone slabs and outcroppings along the ridge, the fossils are almost circular depressions or “molds.” These molds, many as large as two feet in diameter, were made the ammonite’s curving outer shell, which is similar to today’s Nautilus. The ammonite fossils at the KCAL are easy to spot. This was a marine rich environment during the Cretaceous Period.”

“Clams, snails, brachiopods, crabs, gastropods and fish, along with four or five types of ammonites. “About a hundred different marine species have been found here,” Dr. Scattered everywhere were the fossils of several large clams, followed by a string of ammonite fossils that trailed along the crescent-shaped ridge. “But the Ammonites and other marine life thrived here at that time.”Īfter a short but heart-pounding hike up the KCAL’s steep ridge, it quickly became apparent why this site is such a fossil-hunter’s dream. “It’s hard to wrap your head around a figure like 72 million years ago and that this was the bottom of a sea then,” Rupp said after arriving at the KCAL with the trekkers Saturday. Emmett Evanoff, a professor of paleontology at the University of Northern Colorado (UNC) in Greeley, and Katie DeBell, a UNC geology student who lives in Kremmling. Last Saturday, about 25 local residents, tourists and fossil-lovers from around the region went in search of these prehistoric creatures during this summer’s Ammonite Trek organized by Frank Rupp, staff archaeologist at the Kremmling Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The only thing that remains of them today is their fossilized bodies.

The ammonites were marine predators that hunted, reproduced, died and eventually became extinct 72 million years ago in that long-ago sea. And in that primeval sea lived a species of odd-looking creatures that were half-giant snail and half-squid that scientists now call ammonites. Their actual lifestyle is pretty speculative though, because unlike other prehistoric invertebrates (like Nautelids), the Ammonites have no living relatives.Ī final fun fact to start the weekend? The name Ammonite comes from 'Amun,' an Egyptian god who was frequently depicted wearing spiraled horns (similar to the shell pattern).Before the Rocky Mountains rose to touch the sky, a vast inland sea stretching from the Arctic to the Gulf of Mexico covered much of North America, including what would become Colorado’s Grand County. They consumed their prey through a beak-like mouth hidden among its tentacles.Īmmonites most likely moved around by shooting water from spouts in their bodies. Ammonite fossils are more abundant than those of just about any other creature, since they lived for so many years and in so many places.Īmmonites lived in schools and hunted smaller sea creatures. They ranged in size, depending on species, with the largest having shells that could grow as large as 1m in diameter.

These shelled sea creatures lived for millions of years before going extinct along with the Dinosaurs during the late Cretaceous.īetween 240 and 65 million years ago, Ammonites could be found throughout the Oceans of the World.

Today we are going to talk about an entire Subclass of animals known as Ammonites.

Ammonite sea creature