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  5. Goniatite

Goniatite

Goniatite - Homoceras from the © National Museum of Ireland fossil collection Goniatite - Homoceras from the © National Museum of Ireland fossil collection

Goniatite - Dinophioceras sp. from the © National Museum NI fossil collection Goniatite - Dinophioceras sp. from the © National Museum NI fossil collection

Goniatite - Girtyoceras sp. from the © National Museum NI fossil collection Goniatite - Girtyoceras sp. from the © National Museum NI fossil collection

How to recognise them

Spiral shell, last whorl very wide.

 

Fossil Info

Goniatites have a spiral shell with a distinctive very large outer whorl. The shell can show striking patterns made by the sutures that connect the different body chambers in the shell. They are relatives of squid and octopus and went extinct at the end of the Permian period around 250 million years ago.

 

Fun Fact

Goniatites were used in stone age burials.

 

Find out more about Irish Goniatites on the National Museums NI website

Ireland's Fossil Heritage

School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University College Cork, Distillery Fields, North Mall, Cork, T23 TK30,

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