On days when I do not find very much, I tend to also take fossils with me that normally
would not be taking, this wreck of an Amaltheus is such a case, found in early April this year :
I was hoping for a good inner whorl to salvage and may be something subconsciously
registered as interesting with this ammonite.I prepped the ammonite this weekend
and noticed (apart from it being a rather nice inner whorl) that it does have
rather strong ribbing :
The “Schlegelmilch” lists the variation for ribs/whorl for Amaltheus bifurcus as from
17 to 26, and this ammonite fits right in there with 25 ribs at 7.5 cm
(Amaltheus stokesi, the other option, has a lot finer ribbing with 31-44 ribs/whorl)
The “Schlegelmilch” also list the umbilical width of the ammonites, with
Amaltheus bifurcus at 34-45 % and Amaltheus stokesi with 25 – 28 % –
and this ammonite has exactly 28 % !
So it looks like this ammonite is something of an in-betweener, a late A. bifurcus or an
early A. stokesi or even a hybrid, since these ammonite species did occur together.
Whatever it is, I´ve had so much fun prepping and wondering about it, that it´s been
really worth taking the chance with the wreck that it was. It´s so much better not
expecting a lot from a fossil and finding a little jewel hiding in there than expecting
a lot and finding it´s a wreck…
AndyS