Baculitidae is a family of extinct

ammonoid Ammonoids are a group of extinct marine mollusc animals in the subclass Ammonoidea of the class Cephalopoda. These molluscs, commonly referred to as ammonites, are more closely related to living coleoids (i.e., octopuses, squid and cuttlefish) ...

cephalopods that lived mostly during the

Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', the ...

, and often included in the suborder Ancyloceratina. Baculitid genera are characterized by a small to minute initial coil of about two whorls followed by a long straight or slightly curved shaft. Genera are distinguished on the basis of size, general shape, particulars of the suture, and ornamentation. They can reach lengths of or more. Baculitids are found worldwide in deposits from the upper Albian to the

Maastrichtian The Maastrichtian () is, in the ICS geologic timescale, the latest age (uppermost stage) of the Late Cretaceous Epoch or Upper Cretaceous Series, the Cretaceous Period or System, and of the Mesozoic Era or Erathem. It spanned the interval from ...

ages. Related families are the

Anisoceratidae Anisoceratidae is an extinct Family (biology), family of heteromorph ammonites which belong to the Ancyloceratina superfamily Turrilitoidea. Members of the family range is from the lower Albian to the upper Turonian. The family is possibly deriv ...

Diplomoceratidae Diplomoceratidae is a family of ammonites included in the order Ammonitida. Fossils of species within this genus have been found in the Cretaceous sediments (age range: from 99.7 to 66.043 million years ago). Studies of ''Diplomoceras'' suggest t ...

Hamitidae ''Hamites'' (":wikt:Hamites, hook-like") is a genus of heteromorph ammonite that evolved late in the Aptian stage of the Early Cretaceous and lasted into the Cenomanian stage of the Late Cretaceous. The genus is almost certainly paraphyletic but ...

Nostoceratidae Nostoceratidae is a diverse Family (biology), family of heteromorph ammonites found throughout the oceans of the world during the Late Cretaceous. The nostoceratids are famous for the bizarre coiling of their shells. Many genera, such as ''Yezo ...

, and

Turrilitidae Turrilitidae is a family of extinct heteromorph ammonite cephalopods. All members had shells that coiled helically that tended to resemble auger shells. The ecological roles turrilitids played is largely unknown, as experts are still speculati ...

; all of which along with the Baculitidae are included in the superfamily

Turrilitoidea Turrilitoidea is a diverse superfamily of Cretaceous ammonites generally considered as heteromorphic and commonly included in the suborder Ancyloceratina. Shells of this diverse group do not coil planospirally, as typical for most ammonitida, am ...

. Genera included in the family include: *'' Baculites'' *'' Boehmoceras'' *''

Eubaculites ''Eubaculites'' is an extinct genus of cephalopods in the family Baculitidae and each known species was initially placed within the related genus '' Baculites'' until it was placed in a separate genus in 1926. ''Eubaculites'' existed from the Tu ...

'' *'' Euhomaloceras'' *''

Fresvillia ''Fresvillia'' is an extinct cephalopod genus belonging to baculitid family of the ammonoid order Ancyloceratida that lived during the Late Cretaceous, found in France. Baculitids are a kind of heteromorph The Ancyloceratina were a diverse su ...

'' *'' Lechites'' *'' Pseudobaculites'' *'' Sciponoceras'' *'' Tuberosciponoceras ''

References

External links

The Paleobiology Database Baculitidae entry

The Paleobiology Database
Ammonitida families Turrilitoidea Albian first appearances Maastrichtian extinctions {{Ammonitida-stub