The fossil occupied one corner of the shell-encrusted boulder. The sandstone boulder in which the fossil was embedded was deposited on the seafloor about 85 million years ago, making it one of the youngest fossilised ammonites found in New Zealand.
Largest ammonite series#
Their shells were coiled like a snail's and made up of a series of walled-off chambers that enabled them to adjust their buoyancy and swim freely in the sea. The area outlined in red on the smaller fossil indicates the section discovered in northern Hawke's Bay. The large fossilised ammonite fragment (right), compared to a smaller complete fossil which is just 165mm in diameter. They could also sink like a stone to escape predators, or swim fast in pursuit of small prey. The biggest is from Germany and is 2.55m in diameter.Īs a class of marine animal, ammonites were good swimmers and may have avoided predation by squirting ink, much like today’s cephalopods, which are their modern-day relatives.
The largest fossilised ammonite found in New Zealand measures 1.42m across and is on display in Te Papa. Second, at 90cm across, it is much bigger than other ammonites found in northern Hawke’s Bay, which are typically just a few centimetres in diameter. First, it was just sitting in the riverbed waiting to be found. The area is inland from Mohaka and south of Lake Waikaremoana, and borders the area where noted amateur fossil hunter Joan Wiffen first discovered evidence of land-based dinosaurs in New Zealand. GNS Science paleontologist James Crampton and collections manager John Simes discovered the fossil in a 60kg boulder as they walked up a remote stream during a reconnaissance field trip in March this year.
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