''Collignociceras'' is a strongly ribbed and tuberculate, evolute

ammonite 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 cuttle ...

from the

Turonian The Turonian is, in the ICS' geologic timescale, the second age in the Late Cretaceous Epoch, or a stage in the Upper Cretaceous Series. It spans the time between 93.9 ± 0.8 Ma and 89.8 ± 1 Ma (million years ago). The Turonian is preceded ...

of the western

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...

and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

belonging to the ammonitid family

Collignoniceratidae Collignoniceratidae is a family of Upper Cretaceous ammonites characterized by typically more or less evolute shells with compressed, oval, or square whorl sections; serrate or entire keels; and dense ribs with one to 5 tubercles. Taxonomy This ...

. The genus is named after the French paleontologist

Maurice Collignon Maurice Jules Marie Collignon (9 June 1893, Saint-Malo – 21 October 1978, Moirans) was a French geologist and paleontologist, who is best known for his research of Cretaceous period ammonites from Madagascar. A career military officer, in 1914 ...

. The type is ''Collignoniceras woollgari'', named by Mantell in 1822 for specimens from Sussex, England. The shell is compressed in early growth stages, with rounded or high and clavate siphonal tubercles tending to form a serrate keel, straight or slightly sinuous ribs and weak umbilical and strong ventrolateral tubercles. later whorls tend to be squarer in section with exaggerated ventrolateral tubercles. Two subspecies are known from the

of western North America, ''C. woollgari wooolgari'' and ''C. woollgari regulari''. ''C. w. woollgari'' has been found with '' Mammites depressus'' at the top of the lower shale tongue and lowermost overlying Tres Hermanos sandstone member of the

Mancos Shale The Mancos Shale or Mancos Group is a Late Cretaceous (Upper Cretaceous) geologic formation of the Western United States. The Mancos Shale was first described by Cross and Purington in 1899 and was named for exposures near the town of Mancos ...

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...

, in a shale bed at the top of the

Greenhorn Formation The Greenhorn Limestone or Greenhorn Formation is a geologic formation in the Great Plains Region of the United States, dating to the Cenomanian and Turonian ages of the Late Cretaceous period. The formation gives its name to the Greenhorn cycle ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

, and alone in sandstone and shale in the upper

Frontier Formation The Frontier Formation is a sedimentary geological formation whose strata date back to the Late Cretaceous. The formation's extents are: northwest Colorado, southeast Idaho, southern Montana, northern Utah, and western Wyoming. It occurs in many ...

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the sou ...

. The slightly younger ''C. w. regulari'' is known from the lower

Carlile Shale The Carlile Shale is a Turonian age Upper Cretaceous, Upper/Late Cretaceous series shale geologic Formation (geology), formation in the central-western United States, including in the Great Plains region of Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico ...

, which overlies the Greenhorn. It has been found in U. S. western interior from as far west as northern

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States. It is the list of U.S. states and territories by area, 6th largest and the list of U.S. states and territories by population, 14 ...

and eastern

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

and from New Mexico to

Montana Montana () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West List of regions of the United States#Census Bureau-designated regions and divisions, division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North ...

References

* Arkell ''et al.'', 1957, Mesozoic Ammonoidea, Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology Part L. Geological Soc. of America, Univ of Kansas Press. R.C. Moore, (Ed) * W. A. Cobban and Hook, S. C. 1979, ''Collignoniceras woollgari wooollgari'' (Mantell) ammonite fauna from Upper Cretaceous of Western Interior, United States. Memoir 37, New Mexico Bureau of Mines&Mineral Resources, Socorro NM. Late Cretaceous ammonites of North America Ammonitida genera Collignoniceratidae {{Ammonitina-stub