Baculites Compressus filled with Barite and Calcite crystal’s & Hoploscaphites brevis

Ammonoidea and the Family Baculitidae are an extinct order of cephalopods that flourished in the later Paleozoic and throughout the Mesozoic Epoch, but became extinct at the end of the Cretaceous Period the same time as the dinosaurs. They are related to the extant and extinct forms of squid, octopi and Nautiloids. Baculites are characterized by their straight phragmocone and body chamber, prominent ribs on its flanks and venter with rounded nodes. They were primarily plankton eaters, but as with all predatory animals, they were opportunistic feeders, eating whatever they were able to catch. They, in turn, were feed upon by fish, swimming reptiles, crustaceans and other larger cephalopods.

These extinct Cephalopods floated in the warm oceans during the Cretaceous Period 75 million years ago, and had straight shells with chambers that filled with gas and provided both buoyancy and propulsion in the water. Although Baculites are found all over the world, limited supplies of colorful iridescent quality Baculites are only found in the protective, shell preserving septarian concretions and fossil balls, in the Pierre Shale Formation and marine equivalents of the Western Interior Seaway of  Montana, and South Dakota. All specimens Fluoresce brightly under UV Light.