Ammonitina comprises a diverse suborder of

ammonite 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 ...

cephalopods that lived during 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 (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. ...

and

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 ...

periods of the

Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era is the Era (geology), era of Earth's Geologic time scale, geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Period (geology), Periods. It is characterized by the dominance of archosaurian r ...

Era. They are excellent

index fossils Biostratigraphy is the branch of stratigraphy which focuses on correlating and assigning relative ages of rock strata by using the fossil assemblages contained within them.Hine, Robert. "Biostratigraphy." ''Oxford Reference: Dictionary of Biology ...

, and it is often possible to link the rock layer in which they are found to specific geological time periods. The shells of Ammonitina are typically planospiral, coiled in a single plane and symmetrical from side to side. They come in various forms, including evolute shells where all whorls are exposed, and strongly involute shells with only the outer whorl visible. Shells may be heavily ribbed, with some featuring nodes and spines, while others are completely smooth. Some shells have broad, rounded venters (the outer rim), while others have a sharp, keel-like venter. Sutures are generally ammonitic, characterized by complex saddle and lobe patterns. However, in some derived forms, the suture pattern becomes simplified, appearing ceratitic or even goniatitic. The Ammonitina are derived from the Phylloceratina, another ammonitid suborder which has its origin in the Ceratitida of the

Triassic The Triassic ( ; sometimes symbolized 🝈) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.5 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.4 Mya. The Triassic is t ...

. As with the subclass, the closest living relatives of the Ammonitina are the

Coleoidea Coleoidea or Dibranchiata is one of the two subclasses of cephalopod molluscs containing all the various taxa popularly thought of as "soft-bodied" or "shell-less" (i.e. octopus, squid and cuttlefish). Unlike its extant sister group Nauti ...

(

octopus An octopus (: octopuses or octopodes) is a soft-bodied, eight-limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttlefish, and nautiloids. Like oth ...

squid A squid (: squid) is a mollusc with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight cephalopod limb, arms, and two tentacles in the orders Myopsida, Oegopsida, and Bathyteuthida (though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also ...

, and

cuttlefish Cuttlefish, or cuttles, are Marine (ocean), marine Mollusca, molluscs of the order (biology), suborder Sepiina. They belong to the class (biology), class Cephalopoda which also includes squid, octopuses, and nautiluses. Cuttlefish have a unique ...

) and not the superficially similar modern ''

Nautilus A nautilus (; ) is any of the various species within the cephalopod family Nautilidae. This is the sole extant family of the superfamily Nautilaceae and the suborder Nautilina. It comprises nine living species in two genera, the type genus, ty ...

''. Lower Jurassic superfamilies include the Psiloceratoidea, Eoceroceratoidea, and Hildoceratoidea, which is in part Middle Jurassic. Superfamilies from the Middle and Upper Jurassic include the Stephanoceratoidea, Perisphinctoidea, and Haploceratoidea; the Perisphinctoidea and Haploceratoidea continued well into the Cretaceous. Exclusively Cretaceous superfamilies include the Desmoceratacea, Hoplitoidea, and the Acanthoceratoidea. The Eoderoceratoidea of the Lower Jurassic gave rise in the middle of the epoch to the Hilderceratidae, which in turn gave rise early in the Middle Jurassic to the Stephanoceratoidea, Perisphinctoidea, and Haploceratoidea. The Psiloceratoidea from the Lower Jurassic stands alone. The Cretaceous Desmoceratoidea are derived from the Phylloceratina separately from Jurassic forms and give rise to the Hoplitoidea and to the Acanthoceratoidea.

References

External links

* Ammonitida suborders Prehistoric animal suborders Mollusc suborders Jurassic first appearances Late Cretaceous extinctions {{ammonitida-stub