Giant Ammonite

Parapuzosia seppenradensis. Gosau, Styria. 85 million years.

Parapuzosia seppenradensis is the largest species of ammonite ever to live. At just under a meter diameter, this specimen is the second largest ammonite in Austria.

A PRIMEVAL SUBMARINE
Ammonites are extinct relatives of squids. Their gas-filled chambers in their shells enabled them to float, rise, and sink in the water. This primeval drive system inspired Jules Verne to invent the first submarine in his novel “20,000 leagues under the sea”. In the Mesozoic era, 250 to 65 million years ago, ammonites conquered the entire planet. The composition of their calcium shells reflect the changing climate. Scientists are using these data today to explore the global climatic crises of the Mesozoic, that changed the fate of entire oceans and made them disappear. The NHM’s giant ammonite was discovered in 1971 in an inaccessible cliff near Gosau. Hanging from the cliff, staff members of the Paleontological Department sank a five-meter shaft to extract the 180-kilogram specimen with compressors and jackhammers – hard labor on the hard sandstone! Finally, the ammonite was removed from the rock in several pieces and reassembled from 500 fragments at the museum. “Undoubtedly the greatest discovery of our life!” was how the scientists involved described this sensational find. After its death, the Parapuzosia must have lain on the sea floor for some time, as small mussels, tubeworms, and clionids have settled on its shell. Five small nautiloidea were discovered in the open living chamber. These are not displayed, but part of the lobe line was exposed – at the point where the multiple folds of the walls separating the chambers have grown on the external wall of the shell.