Acantholytoceras

Acantholytoceras is a genus of ammonite that lived during the Jurassic period. It is a member of the ammonoid subclass, which is a group of extinct marine mollusk animals in the subclass Ammonoidea of the class Cephalopoda. These creatures are more closely related to living coleoids (i.e., octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish) than they are to shelled nautiloids such as the living Nautilus species.

Description

The shell of an Acantholytoceras is typically coiled, discoidal, and involute. The whorl section is compressed to depressed, with a sharp venter. The ornamentation consists of simple, flexuous ribs that spring from umbilical tubercles and cross the venter without interruption.

Taxonomy

Acantholytoceras is a genus in the family Hildoceratidae, a group of ammonites that lived from the lower Jurassic to the lower Cretaceous. The Hildoceratidae are part of the superfamily Hildoceratoidea, which also includes the families Hammatoceratidae and Graphoceratidae.

Distribution

Fossils of Acantholytoceras have been found in Europe, particularly in France and Germany, and also in North Africa.

See also

• List of ammonite genera
• Timeline of ammonite research

External links

• Acantholytoceras at Fossilworks.org