LK Ammonite Cleoniceras IF-MA-16-002

Cleoniceras besairiei
Lower Cretaceous (Albian)
Mahajanga Basin
Madagascar

Here is an outstanding example of C. besairiei with the original shell in unprepared condition.  It has splendid iridescent color.   Most examples from these localities are sanded and polished to such an extent that the original aragonite shell is removed.  Some are sanded down and the geometry of the sutures is lost.  Careful preparation however can preserve the original iridescent shell as well as the lateral ribbing characteristic of the species.  The ammonite is 8 inches across.

Cleoniceras is a rather involute, high-whorled hoplitid from the Lower to basal Middle Albian of Europe, Madagascar, and the Transcaspian region. The shell has a generally small umbilicus, arched to acute venter, and typically at some growth stage, falcoid ribs that spring in pairs from umbilical tubercles, usually disappearing on the outer whorls. These Lower Cretaceous ammonites are quarried commercially in Madagascar.  They are found in a hard basal glauconitic sandstone layer known as the Cleoniceras Zone.