AMMONOIDEA

Ammonites are the common name given to the subclass Ammonoidea, an extinct order of cephalopod. They appear in the Devonian and spread in all the seas with a wealth of species of the most varied forms, the most common of which is a flat spiral.

Ammonites probably lived in the open waters of ancient seas rather than on the seafloor, as their fossils are often found in rocks deposited in conditions where there is no bottom life. In general, they seem to have lived in the upper 250 metres of the water column. Many are thought to have been good swimmers, with flattened, disc-shaped, streamlined shells.

Ammonites were devastated by the end-Triassic extinction, with only a handful of genera surviving to become the ancestors of all later Jurassic and Cretaceous ammonites. All ammonites disappeared during or shortly after the extinction event caused by the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs some 65.5 million years ago.

Inspired by this fascinating creature, Carlos Alonso Pascual has designed Ammonites officinalis, a new hybrid species that helps us rethink our relationship with the natural world.

THE HORNS OF AMMON

Since antiquity, ammonites have been linked to a multitude of cultural traditions, including mythology, religion, and even necromancy. They were known as "Hammonis Cormu", "Corni de Ammone" or "Cornamone" because their shape resembled the tightly coiled ram's horns used to represent the Egyptian god Ammon.

The Greeks and Romans ascribed a sacred quality to ammonites, associating them with their deity Zeus/Iupiter. They believed that these fossils possessed the power to induce prophetic dreams.

In medieval Europe, fossilised ammonites were believed to be petrified coiled snakes, and were called "snakestones". They were considered to be evidence for the actions of saints, and were held to have healing or oracular powers.

Georgius Agricola (1494-1555), often named as “the father of mineralogy” and author of De Re Metallica, a work based on Pliny’s work Historia Naturalis, also referred them as Ammonis Cornu.

The swiss naturalist Conrad Gessner (1516-1565) include some ammonite’s illustration is his work De rerum fossilium. But even toward the end of 17th century the ammonite organic nature was still under debate. Robert Hooke (1635-1703) was fascinated by the logarithmic coil of ammonite shells and their regularly arranged septa. He reached the conclusion that ammonites are not only of organic origin but also exhibit a striking resemblance to Nautilus.

LUSUS NATURAE

Until the late 17th century, most naturalists considered fossils to be figured stones growing out of the earth, or lusus naturae, jokes of nature put there for our amusement. Despite the fact that Robert Hooke advanced the theory that fossils are the remains of once living creatures, this anthropocentric interpretation of nature has persisted to the present day. The concept of nature is viewed through a utilitarian lens, for the benefit of that unique pole of meaning and value which is the human subject.

Ammonites officinalis is a new hybrid species designed to recognise our interdependence with the Earth's ecosystems, regenerate and restore the natural environment and promote an active and symbiotic collaboration with nature.

Finally, officinalis is a medieval epithet applied to species with uses in medicine, herbalism and gastronomy. The term literally means "of or belonging to an officina," which refers to a monastery storeroom where medicinal plants and other items were kept. In the context of an increasingly likely scenario of ecological collapse, the epithet officinalis indicates a commitment to the restoration and regeneration of the planet.