It seems a crying shame that nothing has been subsequently published; Clem, perhaps we should compose a nice wee letter online, then send it to them and see if we can get them to respond with more information (like it is pretty whiz-bang exciting stuff), directing them to this site.
Neale, ta muchly for those labels. Wouldn't it be exciting if they took cores from the sample to see if there's anything really odd therein, or subject the ammonite to some more whiz-bang less-invasive image-taking something-or-other (3D CT, computer animation or what have you; anything but a hammer).
The thing that I've marked with a great big, dirty line ... this is rather interesting. At the rear of the chamber/body, a position that I'd expect one of gonad, stomach caecum, ???gizzard (and maybe even 'gizzard plates' .... we're back on this subject again), or something to do with the siphuncle/gas/fluid/haemolymph storage/production, or vacuum generation (pressurised or vacuum in these things??) .... maybe even some sort of posterior sucker to hold the animal within the shell (is this where suckers first evolved ... to enable an otherwise non-octopus/squid-like animal to clamber/suck its way inside the shell? ... were the first 'arms' and suckers the functional equivalent of 'retractor muscles' ... hence the general lack of muscle scars?). Can anyone hazard a guess whether this ammonite is male or female, mature or not (big/small for the species) .... as an index of reproductive maturity (to eliminate gonad from the equation)?
So is this the only pic of the brute out there (public domain)? Is the fossil well-localised ... and have others been to the site and dug, detonated or otherwise surveyed? If it happens once then it might happen again ....
Cheers
O