Team members at Everything Dinosaur recently visited the Spielwarenmesse trade fair in Germany. Many of the buildings in this part of Bavaria are constructed from limestone. The limestone dates from the Jurassic and is highly fossiliferous. Whilst walking between the halls of the Spielwarenmesse on our way to another meeting, we spotted an ammonite fossil in the stone floor,

Ammonite fossil in the stone floor on the site of the annual Spielwarenmesse trade fair.
On the floor of the Spielwarenmesse building fossils can be spotted. For example, this limestone slab has the remains of an ammonite clearly visible within it. The red arrow highlights the position of the ammonite fossil. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Looking for an Ammonite Fossil

Numerous fossils can be spotted entombed in the polished stone floors of the vast Messezentrum Nuremberg which hosts the international toy fair. Belemnites, bivalves and oyster shells are common. Ammonites tend to be a little rarer, but there are still plenty to see.

Ammonite model next to a fossil specimen.
A model of an ammonite (foreground) with a polished ammonite in the background. The strongly ribbed shell and the obvious keel of the ammonite replica. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The picture (above) shows a Bullyland ammonite replica in the foreground with a polished ammonite fossil behind it.

To view the Bullyland range of prehistoric animal models and figures: Bullyland Prehistoric Animal Replicas.

A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur explained that many municipal buildings in and around Nuremberg were built from limestone that contains lots of fossils. The sediments that went onto form the limestone were Upper Jurassic in age.

The spokesperson added:

“Nuremberg airport is famous for its fossils. It is always intriguing to see what we can spot in the floor tiles as we wait to board an aeroplane.

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