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Wyoming fossils reveal the thickest known belemnite
A new Jurassic species has the broadest belemnite guard yet described, far wider than common Wyoming examples.
Only the hard internal guard is preserved; the living animal is estimated at about 60 cm including arms.
Difference
Typical guards are 1–2 cm wide; this one reached 6 cm while about 10 cm long.
Evidence
CT scans exposed internal features linking it to a lineage thought to have vanished earlier.
Two fossils
A second donated specimen supported a species diagnosis rather than one malformed individual.
Ecology
Predation on smaller belemnites is plausible but remains a hypothesis without gut contents or attack traces.
Next
More fossils are needed to distinguish growth, sex, variation and geographic range.
Primary source and independent checks
Papers in Palaeontology 원 논문 서지
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