Lytoceratina is a

suborder Order ( la, ordo) is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and ...

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...

and

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...

ammonites 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) ...

that produced loosely coiled, evolute and gyroconic shells in which the sutural element are said to have complex moss-like endings.

Morphologic characteristics

Shells are generally evolute, with all whorls exposed and touching, some are gyroconic with whorls separated by a space. Whorl sections vary from subcircular to narrowly compressed. The venter, or outer rim, is generally broadly arched but in some is keeled. Sides are either smooth or ribbed. Sutural elements are typically complex, referred to in the literature as moss-like, with adventious and secondary subdivisions. Saddle endings tend to be rounded but usually not phylloid, lobes tend to be more jagged with thorn-like endings. Aptychi are single valved and concentrically striated (Anaptychus)

Derivation and phylogeny

The Lytoceratina, which constitute a suborder within the Ammonitida, are derived from the Triassic

Ussuritidae Ussuritidae are ancestral, Triassic, Phylloceratina characterized by generally smooth, discoidal, evolute shells with rounded venters and little or no ornamentation and by sutures with primitive monophyllitic saddles with a single terminal branch ...

Discophyllitidae Discophyllitidae are discoidal, generally evolute Phylloceratina from the Upper Triassic, derived from the Ussuritidae, in which the principal saddles of the suture have bifurcated or trifurcated endings, described as being di- or triphyllic. D ...

, families belonging to the

Phylloceratina The Phyllocertina comprise a suborder of ammonoid cephalopods, belonging to the Ammonitida, whose range extends from the Lower Triassic to the Upper Cretaceous. Shells of the Phylloceratina are generally smooth with small to large umbilici and ...

, or both (which would make them polyphyletic). They in turn gave rise to the main body of Jurassic

Ammonitina 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 t ...

and to the Cretaceous

Ancyloceratina The Ancyloceratina were a diverse suborder of ammonite most closely related to the ammonites of order Lytoceratina. They evolved during the Late Jurassic but were not very common until the Cretaceous period, when they rapidly diversified and beca ...

Included Families

Twelve families have been described of which the

Lytoceratidae Lytoceratidae is a taxonomic family of ammonoid cephalopods belonging to the suborder Lytoceratina, characterized by very evolute shells that generally enlarge rapidly, having whorls in contact but mostly overlapping very sightly, or not at all. ...

dominate. The Lytoceratidae also have the longest range, from the Lower Jurassic to the Cenomanian stage in the Upper Cretaceous.

References

* Arkell et al., Mesozoic Ammonoidea, Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Part L, Mollusca 4; Geol Soc of America & Univ. Kansas press, 1957.
The Paleobiology Database - Lytoceratina
4/05/10 Ammonitida suborders Early Jurassic first appearances Late Cretaceous extinctions {{Ammonitida-stub