Heteromorph by Wolfgang Grulke
When purchasing a ‘lot’ of books to sell in the shop, we do come across the occasional weird and wonderful book titles. I recently came across a bizarre looking item…
Heteromorph: The Rarest Fossil Ammonites by Wolfgang Grulke
What is a Heteromorph??? Of course, I googled it:
Heteromorphic: differing from the normal form in size, shape, and function according to the Collins English Dictionary.
Hmmmm I am still not sure… The sub-heading for this book reads thus:
The rarest Fossil Ammonites: Nature at its most bizarre (see, that word – bizarre - again!)
Ah-ha – it is to do with Fossils, but what is an Ammonite? I refer once again to my friend, Google:
Wikipedia states:
Ammonite is a 2020 romantic drama film written and directed by Francis Lee. Loosely inspired by the life of British palaeontologist Mary Anning
Uhhhh no, I don’t think this is what I am looking for although the film is inspired by a palaeontologist (too many big words here but I think I know what a palaeontologist is – someone who studies fossils)… so, although I have not seen this film before, it gives me a clue, once again, of fossils…
The Natural History Museum website states:
Ammonites were shelled cephalopods that died out about 66 million years ago. Fossils of them are found all around the world, sometimes in very large concentrations.
That sounds more like it!
The blurb on the reverse of this book is as follows:
‘Ammonites dominated the sea before and during the time the dinosaurs dominated the land. Some ammonites were large predators not unlike today’s giant squid, others small and delicate. Three times during their reign of more than 300 million years ammonites experimented with the most bizarre and startling shell shapes. Now, new technology is revealing the full beauty of these ‘heteromorph’ ammonites and they have become some of the most desirable and passionately collected natural objects. This is their story… and how they are becoming a vibrant part of 21st century lifestyles, art and design. This magnificent new book is a must for anyone interested in the wonders of the natural world, and their impact on our culture.’
So, now I am trying to reconcile, Ammonites and Heteromorphs to understand exactly what this book is about, a struggle… So, I am now reading the book!
The book explains:
Three times during their long existence ammonites experimented with the most bizarre and startling shell shapes – resulting in ‘heteromorphs’. Simply put, heteromorphs are the eccentric and bizarre members of the ammonites that have been ignored, until quite recently. They are visually and instantly recognised as being ‘different’. They do things that no ammonite should do… Heteromorph shapes are extremely varied and can seem impossibly distorted and chaotic, yet hauntingly beautiful.
On that note, I will leave you wanting more – this is a beautiful book, indeed!
Sources:
Google
Wikipedia
Last but not least, the beautiful tome: Heteromorph: The Rarest of Fossil Ammonites by Wolfgang Grulke
Contributed by Sonia
(Published on 6th Jan 2026)
