''Meitianoceras'' is a genus of ammonites in the
ceratitid
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 ammoni ...
family
Paraceltitidae
Paraceltitidae is a family of Middle and Upper Permian cephalopods, that comprise the earliest of the Ceratitida. Paraceltitidids have variably ribbed, discoidally evolute shells with compressed elliptical whorl sections and simple suture lines. ...
that lived during the final stage of the
Permian
The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last period of the Paleoz ...
, from about 254 to 251 million years ago. The shell of ''Meitianoceras'' is small and evolute. All whorls being clearly visible. The outer rim (venter) is angular. The surface of the shell has growth lines or plications. The suture is of the ''
Paraceltites
''Paraceltites'' is a genus of ammonoid cephalopods in the ceratitid family Paraceltitidae
Paraceltitidae is a family of Middle and Upper Permian cephalopods, that comprise the earliest of the Ceratitida. Paraceltitidids have variably ribbed ...
'' type with 8 unserrated lobes and long, anteriorly, contracted club-shaped external saddles.
The type species ''Meitianoceras meitianense'', named by Zheng, 1984, one of three species recognized, was first discovered in the Upper Permian Changhsingian Upper Coal Series Formation, in Hunan, China. It has also been found in the
Dalong Formation of the same age in Hubei. ''M. paulum'' and ''M. sphaelobatum'', named by Yang and Yang in 1992, were both first found also in the Dalong Formation in Hubei, China.
References
GONIAT-online ''Meitianoceras'' entryThe Paleobiology Database ''Meitianoceras'' entry
Paraceltitidae
Ceratitida genera
{{Ceratitida-stub