''Vascoceras'' is an extinct genus of
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...
ammonites
Ammonoids are extinct, (typically) coiled-shelled cephalopods comprising the subclass Ammonoidea. They are more closely related to living octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish (which comprise the clade Coleoidea) than they are to nautiluses (family N ...
included in the family
Vascoceratidae
The Vascoceratidae is a family of Upper Cretaceous ammonites in the superfamily Acanthoceratoidea characterized by shells that are either smooth or bluntly tuberculate, or have sparse, coarse ribs. Sutural elements are shallow, irregular, and sli ...
. These fast-moving nektonic carnivores lived in the
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...
period from the late
Cenomanian
The Cenomanian is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy's (ICS) geological timescale, the oldest or earliest age (geology), age of the Late Cretaceous epoch (geology), Epoch or the lowest stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Upper Cretace ...
to the early
Turonian
The Turonian is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy, ICS' geologic timescale, the second age (geology), age in the Late Cretaceous epoch (geology), Epoch, or a stage (stratigraphy), stage in the Upper Cretaceous series (stratigraphy), ...
.
[Sepkoski, Jac]
Sepkoski's Online Genus Database – Cephalopoda
/ref> The type species of the genus is ''Vascoceras gamai''[ from Portugal.
]
Species
The following species of ''Vascoceras'' have been described:[
* ''V. humboldti''
* ''V. olssoni''
* ''V. angermanni''
* ''V. cauvini''
* ''V. hartti''
* ''V. birchbyi''
* ''V. durandi''
* ''V. gamai''
* ''V. proprium''
* ''V. silvanense''
* ''V. venezolanum''
]
Distribution
The type species was first described in Portugal. Fossils of species within this genus have been found in the Cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...
sediments of Angola, Brazil, Colombia (La Frontera Formation
The La Frontera Formation (, K2F, Ksf) is a geological formation, part of the Villeta Group, of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense and neighbouring areas of the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes. The sequence of limestones and lydites dates to the ...
),[Patarroyo, 2016, p.41] Egypt, France, Mexico, Nigeria, Oman, Peru, Tunisia, United States and Venezuela.[
]
References
Bibliography
*
Ammonitida genera
Cretaceous ammonites
Ammonites of Africa
Cretaceous Africa
Ammonites of Europe
Cretaceous Europe
Ammonites of North America
Cretaceous Mexico
Cretaceous United States
Ammonites of South America
Cretaceous Brazil
Cretaceous Colombia
Cretaceous Venezuela
Cenomanian life
Turonian life
Cenomanian genus first appearances
Late Cretaceous extinctions
Fossil taxa described in 1898
{{Ammonite-stub