Editing Ammonoidea (section)

==Cultural significance==
{{see also|Ammolite}}
In medieval Europe, fossilised ammonites were thought to be [[petrified]] coiled [[snakes]], and were called "snakestones" or, more commonly in medieval England, "serpentstones". They were considered to be evidence for the actions of saints, such as [[Hilda of Whitby]], a myth referenced in Sir [[Walter Scott]]'s ''[[Marmion (poem)|Marmion]]'',<ref name="Lovett">{{cite journal | url=http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Folk-Lore._Volume_16/The_Whitby_Snake-Ammonite_Myth | title=The Whitby Snake-Ammonite Myth | author=Lovett, Edward | journal=Folk-Lore |date=September 1905 | volume=16 | issue=3 | pages=333–4 | author-link=Edward Lovett | doi=10.1080/0015587x.1905.9719966}}</ref> and [[Saint Patrick]], and were held to have [[spiritual healing|healing]] or [[divination|oracular]] powers. Traders would occasionally carve the head of a snake onto the empty, wide end of the ammonite fossil, and then sell them as petrified snakes. In other cases, the snake's head would be simply painted on.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cadbury |first=D. |title=The Dinosaur Hunters |publisher=Fourth Estate |year=2000 |isbn=1-85702-963-1 |page=7}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/folklore16folkuoft/page/333/mode/1up|title=Folklore |volume=16 |page=333|date=1905}}</ref>

Others believed ammonites, which they referred to as "salagrana" were composed of [[Coprolite|fossilized worm dung]], and could be used to ward off witches.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Leland |first=Charles Godfrey |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eGh884SrW3kC&dq=for+it+is+the+dung+of+the+animals+called+ronbrigoli+%28lombrici%2C+or+earthworms%29%2C+which+only+eat+earth+and+throw+up+little+hills+which+take+the+form+of+a+stone%2C+or+rather+of+a+sponge%2C+which+petrify.&pg=PA336 |title=Etruscan Roman Remains in Popular Tradition |date=1892 |publisher=T. F. Unwin |language=en}}</ref>

Ammonites from the [[Gandaki River]] in [[Nepal]] are known as [[Shaligram]]s, and are believed by [[Hindu]]s to be a concrete manifestation of [[Vishnu]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.independent.co.uk/sci_tech/article2259490.ece |title=Fossils: myths, mystery, and magic |work=[[The Independent]] |date=2007-02-12 |access-date=2010-04-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071111061251/http://news.independent.co.uk/sci_tech/article2259490.ece |archive-date=2007-11-11 }}</ref>

The [[Ammonite order]], developed by [[George Dance the Younger]], is an [[Classical order|architectural order]] featuring ammonite-shaped [[volute]]s that has seen a handful of uses in [[Architecture of the United Kingdom|British architecture]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Dziekan|first1=Vince|title=Virtuality and the Art of Exhibition: Curatorial Design for the Multimedial Museum|date=2012|publisher=Intellect Books|isbn=9781841504766|page=178|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DMc9UrW1gDIC&q=column+-+Ammonite+Order&pg=PA178|access-date=2 August 2016}}</ref><ref name="oxford22">{{cite book|last1=Curl|first1=James Stevens|last2=Wilson|first2=Susan|title=Oxford Dictionary of Architecture|date=2016|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-967499-2|page=22}}</ref>