Aturia aturi
Nautiloid
Eocene
Boujdour, Morocco

Huge 115mm nautiloid in 210mm matrix.

Cephalopod.

Aturia is a nautiloid genus known from the Paleocene to Miocene of various sites worldwide. Despite its wide distribution, it’s a rare find at all its known localities.

Back in the Ordovician Period, nautiloids ascended to the level of apex predator and survived serious competition from various jawed fish groups during the Devonian. They endured minor and major extinction events all the way into the Cenozoic Era. They then rediversified before going into decline by the Late Miocene. Today, only a few species survive in the Indo-Pacific region.

Here the lovely Ariel is holding an excellent, displayable specimen in matrix from a rather recently discovered site.