Acanthoceras is an extinct cephalopod genus belonging to the subclass Ammonoidea and family Acanthoceratidae that lived from the Albian to early Coniacian stages of the Cretaceous.[1]
Description
Their shells had ornate ribs whose function is unknown, although some scientists have speculated that these ribs helped strengthen the animals' shells to allow them to live at greater depths where the water pressure is higher. An adult had a shell diameter of approximately 100 centimetres (39 in).
Species
- A. athabascense Warren and Stelck, 1955
- A. chasca Benavides-Caceres, 1956
- A. compitalis Stoyanow, 1949
- A. folleatum White, 1887
- A. joserita Stoyanow, 1949
- A. jukesbrownei Spath, 1926
- A. offarcinatum White, 1887
- A. pollocense Benavides-Caceres, 1956
- A. rhotomagensis (Brongniart, 1822)
- A. sangalense Benavides-Caceres, 1956
- A. seitzi Riedel, 1932
- A. wintoni Adkins, 1928
Distribution
Acanthoceras fossils have been found in Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Colombia (Hondita Formation, Prado, Tolima),[2] Denmark, Egypt, Marocco, France, Germany, India (Gujarat) , Iran, Madagascar, Mexico, Mozambique, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the United Kingdom, United States (California, Minnesota, New Mexico, Texas), and Venezuela.[1]
References
- ^ a b Acanthoceras at Fossilworks.org
- ^ Patarroyo, 2011
Bibliography
- Patarroyo, Pedro. 2011. Sucesión de Amonitas del Cretácico Superior (Cenomaniano-Coniaciano) de la parte más alta de la Formación Hondita y de la Formación Loma Gorda en la Quebrada Bambucá, Aipe - Huila (Colombia). Boletín de Geología, Universidad Nacional de Colombia 33. 69-92. Accessed 2017-03-31.
Further reading
- W.J. Arkell et al., 1957 Mesozoic Ammonoidea, Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology Part L. Geological Society of America, University of Kansas Press
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