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Belemnite

Delaware State Fossil

Small belemnite fossils (mostly from Europe); photo by DanielCD on Wikipedia (use permitted with attribution / share alike). 

Official State Fossil of Delaware

Delaware designated belemnite as the official state fossil July 2, 1996 through the efforts of The Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School third-grade Quest students of teacher Kathy Tidball. Belemnite fossils can be found easily along the shores of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. All State Fossils

Belemnite Facts

Marine molluscs related to modern day squid, octopus, and pearly nautilus, belemnites were present on the Earth for a period spanning over 140 million years and disappeared about the same time of the dinosaur mass extinction approximately 65 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous Period.

Built for speed, belemnites are believed to have been efficient carnivores that caught small fish and other marine animals with ten hooked tentacles and which were consumed with their beak-like jaws.