Where In The Ocean Did Iconic Spiral Ammonites Live?

Plants and Animals





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Marine fossils arranged by position in the water column. J.A. Sessa and B.T. Huber.

Ammonites were spiral-shelled marine mollusks that drifted throughout the Mesozoic seas until the Cretaceous–Paleogene mass extinction event. Despite how abundant they are in the fossil record, we don’t know that much about their ecology. Now, researchers trying to reconstruct their habitats reveal where in the water column these ubiquitous fossils preferred to live.