A genus or group of ammonites, which are extinct spiral-shelled marine cephalopods from ancient seas.
From Latin 'ammonis cornua' (horns of Ammon), a mythological reference to spiral shapes, evolved into the modern scientific term for these fossils.
Ancient people thought ammonite fossils were coiled serpents turned to stone by gods—they named them after the Egyptian god Ammon, not realizing they were studying 400-million-year-old squid relatives.
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