Psiloceratoidea is a superfamily of Early
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 ...
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 proposed by
Hyatt
Hyatt Hotels Corporation, commonly known as Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, is an American multinational hospitality company headquartered in the Riverside Plaza area of Chicago that manages and franchises luxury and business hotels, resorts, and vacat ...
in 1867, assigned to the order
Ammonitida
Ammonitida is an order of ammonoid cephalopods that lived from the Jurassic through Paleocene time periods, commonly with intricate ammonitic sutures.
Ammonitida is divided into four suborders, the Phylloceratina, Lytoceratina, Ancyloceratina, a ...
. They were very successful during
Hettangian
The Hettangian is the earliest age and lowest stage of the 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 (My ...
and
Sinemurian
In the geologic timescale, the Sinemurian is an age and stage in the Early or Lower Jurassic Epoch or Series. It spans the time between 199.3 ± 2 Ma and 190.8 ± 1.5 Ma (million years ago). The Sinemurian is preceded by the Hettangian and is ...
. Last of them, family Cymbitidae and genera ''
Hypoxynoticeras
''Hypoxynoticeras'' is an extinct genus of lower Jurassic
The Early Jurassic Epoch (in chronostratigraphy corresponding to the Lower Jurassic Series) is the earliest of three epochs of the Jurassic Period. The Early Jurassic starts immediat ...
'' and ''
Radstockiceras
''Radstockiceras'' is an extinct genus of lower Jurassic ammonite that lived from Oxynotum zone of upper Sinemurian to Raricostatum zone of lower Pliensbachian. Shells of these animals were oxycone and involute with umbilicus that took maximu ...
'' survived into
Early Pliensbachian.
[
Psiloceratoidea is probably derived from the family ]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 ...
, which were Triassic
The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period ...
members of Phylloceratoidea. Similar to their ancestors, Psiloceratidae kept smooth, rounded venter for whole of their life. Schlotheimiidae were different, as they had ventral chevrons. Rest of the families had angular venter, or keel for at least part of their ontogeny. Most of the members of this superfamily had only simple ribs, but few of them have evolved also secondary ribbing. While some members are involute and some Oxynoticeratidae were oxycone, most of the species were evolute.[
]
Families
[
*]Psiloceratidae
Psiloceratidae is an extinct family of cephalopods belonging to the ammonite subclass.
Description
The Psiloceratidae are evolute, smooth or with blunt primary ribbing. The venter is rounded and generally smooth, in some feebly keeled. Sutures a ...
- Evolute shells with simple, or missing ribs. An venter, there is no ornament with one exception, as genus '' Badouxia'' had weak ventral chevron. Shell is planulate, or serpenticone. Sutures were often asymmetrical and in some genera, saddles were phylloid. They lived in Hettangian and early Sinemurian
In the geologic timescale, the Sinemurian is an age and stage in the Early or Lower Jurassic Epoch or Series. It spans the time between 199.3 ± 2 Ma and 190.8 ± 1.5 Ma (million years ago). The Sinemurian is preceded by the Hettangian and is ...
.
* Schlotheimiidae - Planulate shells that ranged from evolute to involute and had no keel. Ribs were simple and on the venter, they have been forming chevrons. Chevrons might have been interrupted, continuous, or sometimes bifurcating ribs had chevrons absent, or only weakly formed. Most genera could grow more than 30 cm in diameter and in this case, they had mostly smooth outer whorls. Suture had 5 lobes. This family lived in Hettangian and Sinemurian.
*Arietitidae
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 ...
- Evolute shells that could have been both serpenticone, or planulate. Ribs were simple and keel was present at least on the last whorls. Whorld section could have been compressed, subquadrate or even depressed. While frequency of the ribs was usually increasing during ontogeny, on the last whorls of large species, rib frequency drops and ornamentation may degenerate. They have lived in Hettangian and Sinemurian.
* Echioceratidae - Serpenticone shells with keel, that can be surrounded by grooves in the case of densely ribbed, compressed species. Whorl section is circular, or with flat sides. Ribs are simple and strong with the exception of '' Leptechioceras'' that had strongly compressed whorl section on outer whorls and these were also smooth. Initial ontogenical stage is smooth, but very short. Tubercules were present in few species. Members of this family lived in Sinemurian.
*Oxynoticeratidae
Oxynoticeratidae is a family of true ammonites (order Ammonitida) included in the superfamily Psiloceratoidea.
Oxynoticeratids have a broad, worldwide distribution but a narrow stratigraphic one, being known only from the Upper Sinemurian and ...
- Oxycone or planulate species, that have been involute, or moderately evolute. Ribs were falcoid or projected and sometimes, even secondary ribs existed. Ribbing have been disappearing on older specimens. Keel was mostly present, but there were no ventral grooves. This family have existed during upper Sinemurian and lower Pliensbachian.
* Cymbitidae - Probably monogeneric family with sphaeroconic involute inner whorls that later during ontogeny become evolute and last whorl is highly eccentric. They were small and mostly less than 2 cm in diameter. Venter is smooth, fastigate or rounded. There was constriction on aperture. Ornamentation was weak, as shell was smooth or plicate and only rarely, there were lateral tubercules. Cymbitidae lived in Sinemurian and Pliensbachian.
References
Ammonitida superfamilies
Ammonitina
Hettangian first appearances
Pliensbachian extinctions
{{Ammonitina-stub