Acanthoceras (ammonite)

Acanthoceras
Temporal range: late Cretaceous 112.0–89.3 Ma
Fossil shell of Acanthoceras rhotomagensis from France, on display at Galerie de paléontologie et d'anatomie comparée in Paris
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Cephalopoda
Subclass: Ammonoidea
Order: Ammonitida
Family: Acanthoceratidae
Subfamily: Acanthoceratinae
Genus: Acanthoceras
Neumayr, 1875

Acanthoceras is an extinct cephalopod genus belonging to the subclass Ammonoidea and family Acanthoceratidae that lived during the Cenomanian stage of the Late Cretaceous.

Description

Their shells had ornate ribs whose function is unknown, although some scientists have speculated that these ribs helped strengthen the animals' shells to allow them to live at greater depths where the water pressure is higher. An adult had a shell diameter of approximately 100 centimetres (39 in).

Distribution

Acanthoceras fossils can be found in Western Europe, western North America and northern Australia.

Species

References

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