Ammonites can amaze us with their bizarrely shaped shells, which often came about close to the many great crises they suffered during the long 300-million-year life. Macroscaphites starts off as a normal ammonite rolled up in planispiral shape, then straightening out and ending with a hooklike bend. The planispiral, gas-filled part kept the shell stable in the water, while the organism itself lived in the hooklike section.

Ammonites sometimes look very similar to each other thanks to their history spanning over 300 million years. They have a planispiral shell more or less marked with ridges and tubercles. Yet they can be classified also on the basis of inner characters, so that there is never a perfect repetition. As a result, this ammonite from the Cretaceous period may always be distinguished from its ancestors.