This is a Beautiful Ammolite gemstone from the Bearpaw Formation of Alberta, Canada! The piece has fantastic iridescence showing a beautiful Orange, Green, Yellow, and Cherry Red Color! It measures about 2.5 inches (6.3 cm) across and weighs 43.4 grams!
Ammolite is an opal like gemstone made from Ammonite fossil shells found in specific areas of the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. It's status as a gemstone is fairly recent, being officially designated as such in 1981. Ammolite gemstones typically consist of a fragment of an ammonite on the rock on which it was found and the coated in a layer of epoxy to protect the fragile fossil shell and stabilize the rock. The shell is primarily composed of Aragonite, but can have traces of other minerals and elements as well. It is the Aragonite of the shells and the unique way in which light interacts with this mineral that produces the stunning array of colors seen on specimens!
Ammonites are cephalopods, like squid and octopi, except they had shells. Ammonites lived from 416 million years to 65 million years ago when they went extinct with the dinosaurs. Scientists have documented over 10,000 species of ammonite! The Ammonites that would become Ammolite lived about 70 million years ago in a large sea that cut through the middle of North America called the Western Interior Seaway. These Ammonites could reach over three feet in length and were active predators who hunted smaller fish and squid. However they themselves were prey for large sharks and giant aquatic reptiles called Mosasaurs.
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Species: Ammolite
Size: 2.5 inches (6.3 cm) across and weighs 43.4 grams
Found: Alberta, Canada
Formation: Bearpaw Formation
Age: Late Cretaceous ~70 million years old
Alteration: coated for stability