Introduction

Mantelliceras mantelli is an ammonite. Ammonites are an extinct group of marine animals belonging to the cephalopod subclass Ammonoidea. Ammonites are excellent index fossils, fossils linking the rock layer in which they are found to specific geological periods.Mantelliceras mantelli is a zone fossil, a fossil which has a precise distribution within layers of rock, which we can use to identify layers of the same age. Mantelliceras mantelli is a very common ammonite fossil of southern England found in sea cliff exposures in the lower layers of the Chalk.Mantelliceras mantelli ammonite is named in honour of the famous 19^th Century Geologist Gideon Algernon Mantell FGS (1790-1852).