Ammonoids are extinct spiral shelled cephalopods comprising the subclass Ammonoidea. They are more closely related to living coleoids than they are to shelled nautiloids. The earliest ammonoids appeared during the Devonian, with the last species vanishing during or soon after the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. They are often called ammonites, which is most frequently used for members of the order Ammonitida, the only remaining group of ammonoids from the Jurassic up until their extinction.
Ammonitida or "True ammonites" are an order of ammonoid cephalopods that lived from the Jurassic through Paleocene time periods, commonly with intricate ammonitic sutures.
Stephanoceras is an extinct genus of Stephanoceratoid ammonite which lived during the Bajocian. It is the type genus of the family Stephanoceratidae.
Acanthohoplites is an extinct genus of ammonites in the family Parahoplitidae that lived in the Aptian and Early Albian stages of the Early Cretaceous.
The Bearpaw Formation, also called the Bearpaw Shale, is a geologic formation of Late Cretaceous (Campanian) age. It outcrops in the U.S. state of Montana, as well as the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, and was named for the Bear Paw Mountains in Montana. It includes a wide range of marine fossils, as well as the remains of a few dinosaurs. It is known for its fossil ammonites, some of which are mined in Alberta to produce the organic gemstone ammolite.
Ceratitida is an order that contains almost all ammonoid cephalopod genera from the Triassic as well as ancestral forms from the Upper Permian, the exception being the phylloceratids which gave rise to the great diversity of post-Triassic ammonites.
Parapuzosia is an extinct genus of desmoceratid ammonites from the Cenomanian to the Campanian of Africa, Europe, and North America. They are typically very large ammonites, reaching diameters of 60 cm (2.0 ft) or more, with the largest species measuring around 2 m (6.6 ft). It possesses a moderately involute shell with flat or slightly rounded sides. Distinct primary and secondary ribbing can be observed in the inner whorls.
Ammonitina comprises a diverse suborder of ammonite cephalopods that lived during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods of the Mesozoic Era. They are excellent index fossils, and it is often possible to link the rock layer in which they are found to specific geological time periods.
Pachycormus is an extinct genus of pachycormiform ray-finned fish known from the Early Jurassic of Europe.
Nostoceras is an extinct genus of ammonites. The etymology of the name Nostoceras comes from "nostos" meaning return and "ceros" meaning horn, named as such by Alpheus Hyatt because it bends back on itself.
Sphenodiscus is an extinct genus of acanthoceratacean ammonite. The genus has been found from many continents and is thought to have had a large global distribution during the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous. It was one of the last ammonoids to have evolved before the entire subclass became extinct during the Paleocene, which was directly after the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event.
Arietitidae is a family of true ammonites that make up part of the superfamily Psiloceratoidea, named after the type genus Arietites. They comprise medium-size to large or gigantic genera which in general are strongly ribbed, tuberculate in some, with keeled or grooved and keeled venters, and well differentiated ammonitic sutures. The aptycus is single valved with a shiny, concentrically striated surface.
Sikannisuchus is an extinct genus of large archosaur from upper Triassic deposits of northeastern British Columbia, Canada. It is known from the holotype, TMP 94.382.3, a posterior portion of skull roof and from other fragmentary remains. It was found from four localities of the Pardonet Formation, near the community of Sikanni Chief. It was first named by Elizabeth L. Nicholls, Donald B. Brinkman, and Xiao-Chun Wu in 1998 and the type species is Sikannisuchus huskyi. It would have reached about 4 metres (13 ft) in length. Ichthyosaurs such as Macgowania, Callawayia and possibly the giant shastasaurid Shonisaurus, coelacanths Whiteia banffensis and possibly Garnbergia, and various genera of molluscs including ammonites and bivalves have also been found in the Pardonet Formation.
Perisphinctidae is a family of Middle and Upper Jurassic discoidal ammonites in the order Ammonitida. They have a shell morphology that is mostly evolute, typically with biplicate, simple, or triplicate ribbing. Large forms have simple apertures and smooth body chambers while small forms have lappets and ribbed body chambers.
Hypophylloceras is a Cretaceous ammonite with a finely ribbed, compressed, involute shell; some having periodic stronger ribs or folds. The suture is complex, with large, asymmetric and finely divided lobes; the 1st lateral being much larger than the external (=ventral) and 2nd lateral lobes. Saddle endings commonly not phylloid.
Paleontology in Minnesota refers to paleontological research occurring within or conducted by people from the U.S. state of Minnesota. The geologic record of Minnesota spans from Precambrian to recent with the exceptions of major gaps including the Silurian period, the interval from the Middle to Upper Devonian to the Cretaceous, and the Cenozoic. During the Precambrian, Minnesota was covered by an ocean where local bacteria ended up forming banded iron formations and stromatolites. During the early part of the Paleozoic era southern Minnesota was covered by a shallow tropical sea that would come to be home to creatures like brachiopods, bryozoans, massive cephalopods, corals, crinoids, graptolites, and trilobites. The sea withdrew from the state during the Silurian, but returned during the Devonian. However, the rest of the Paleozoic is missing from the local rock record. The Triassic is also missing from the local rock record and Jurassic deposits, while present, lack fossils. Another sea entered the state during the Cretaceous period, this one inhabited by creatures like ammonites and sawfish. Duckbilled dinosaurs roamed the land. The Paleogene and Neogene periods of the ensuing Cenozoic era are also missing from the local rock record, but during the Ice Age evidence points to glacial activity in the state. Woolly mammoths, mastodons, and musk oxen inhabited Minnesota at the time. Local Native Americans interpreted such remains as the bones of the water monster Unktehi. They also told myths about thunder birds that may have been based on Ice Age bird fossils. By the early 19th century, the state's fossil had already attracted the attention of formally trained scientists. Early research included the Cretaceous plant discoveries made by Leo Lesquereux.
Paleontology in Alaska refers to paleontological research occurring within or conducted by people from the U.S. state of Alaska. During the Late Precambrian, Alaska was covered by a shallow sea that was home to stromatolite-forming bacteria. Alaska remained submerged into the Paleozoic era and the sea came to be home to creatures including ammonites, brachiopods, and reef-forming corals. An island chain formed in the eastern part of the state. Alaska remained covered in seawater during the Triassic and Jurassic. Local wildlife included ammonites, belemnites, bony fish and ichthyosaurs. Alaska was a more terrestrial environment during the Cretaceous, with a rich flora and dinosaur fauna.
Sturia is a genus of ceratitid ammonoids from the Lower Triassic with an ammonitic suture.
Reynesocoeloceras is genus of ammonite that lived during the lower Pliensbachian stage of early Jurassic, ammonite zones Ibex—Davoei.
Rhaeboceras is an extinct genus of ammonite belonging to the subfamily Scaphitinae. Species belonging to the genus lived during the Cretaceous and have been found in the Pierre Shale of North America.
