''Discoscaphites '' is an extinct genus 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 ...

. This genus may have been one of the few to have briefly survived the K-Pg mass extinction.

Distributions

Cretaceous of Greenland, Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Kansas, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Wyoming, and North Carolina. ''Discoscaphites'' is present in the famous Pinna Layer of the Tinton Formation of New Jersey (above the iridium anomaly), with even possible records in the layer above, along with ''Eubaculites''. Some researchers prefer a conservative interpretation when dating the Pinna Layer, the other remains still suggest ''Discoscaphites'' was a K-Pg survivor, albeit restricted to 65 Ma.

References

External links

* Scaphitidae Ammonitida genera Cretaceous ammonites Late Cretaceous ammonites of North America Campanian genus first appearances Maastrichtian genus extinctions Cretaceous United States Maastrichtian life Hell Creek fauna Fossil taxa described in 1870 {{Ammonitida-stub