The ammonite name was derived from the Egyptian mythology. Have you noticed the resemblance of an ammonite and a ram’s horn? Well, the ancient
Egyptian god, Ammon, depicted as a human with a ram-like head. As a chief god, Ammon was adopted by the Greeks as Zeus and the Roman’s as Jupiter.
In the Oasis of the Libyan desert, there was a celebrated temple of Ammon.
The walls dividing the chambers within the shell is referred to as septa. Ammonites developed septa with intricate folds called lobes and saddles.
In addition, ammonites present delicate lacy patterns on the outer shell called sutures. Sutures are exhibited in three basic patterns. One pattern
displays an elaborate fern-like pattern.
The goniatite pattern exhibits irregular zigzag shapes on the ammonite septa. Finally, the ceratite pattern
on the ammonite septa presents regular wavy designs. These sutures determine the classification of the ammoniods.
Ammonites (ammonoid cephalopods) first appeared in the late Silurian and early Devonian period. The cephalopods became extinct at the end of the
Cretaceous period about 65 million years ago. Ammonites are marine animals of ancient seas and classified as Cephalopoda, phylum Mollusca.
The behavior of ammonites is somewhat of a mystery. At the time of extinction, the soft bodies were not preserved in detail. However, studies have
been conducted on the ammoniod shells to examine possible behavioral patterns.
