Walkeria Facts
| Diet | Carnivore |
| Length | 0.15m |
| Weight | 200 g |
| Environment | Water |
| Era | Jurassic |
| Period | Early Jurassic |
| Type | Other |
| Location | Europe |

| Diet | Carnivore |
| Length | 0.15m |
| Weight | 200 g |
| Environment | Water |
| Era | Jurassic |
| Period | Early Jurassic |
| Type | Other |
| Location | Europe |
Although once thought to be connected to dinosaurs through naming confusion, Walkeria is actually a fascinating marine creature - an ammonite that lived in the warm, shallow seas of the Early Jurassic period. These extinct cephalopods were relatives of modern squid and octopuses, but lived inside beautiful spiral shells that are now prized fossils.
Walkeria inhabited the ancient Tethys Sea that covered much of what is now Europe between 193 and 175 million years ago. Like other ammonites, it possessed a soft body with tentacles that extended from its coiled shell, which was divided into chambers. The animal lived in the outermost chamber, whilst the inner chambers were filled with gas and liquid to control buoyancy - rather like a submarine's ballast tanks.
As a carnivorous predator, Walkeria used its tentacles to catch small fish, crustaceans, and other marine creatures. It had a sharp, parrot-like beak hidden amongst its tentacles for tearing apart prey. The creature could move through the water by jet propulsion, squirting water from its body to propel itself backwards - a method still used by its modern relatives.
Walkeria's spiral shell displayed the typical ribbed pattern common to many ammonites of the Hildoceratidae family. These shells are among the most commonly found fossils in Early Jurassic rock formations across Europe, providing valuable insights into ancient marine ecosystems.
Walkeria had a tightly coiled spiral shell with distinctive ribbed patterns running across its surface. The shell typically measured around 15 centimetres in diameter and featured a relatively narrow opening from which the animal's tentacles would have emerged.
Walkeria was an active marine predator that used jet propulsion to move through ancient seas. It likely hunted by using its tentacles to capture prey before using its sharp beak to tear apart small fish and crustaceans.
Walkeria was first described by Émile Haug in 1882. The original fossils were discovered at Various locations across Europe.