Acanthoceras (ammonite)
| Acanthoceras Temporal range: late Cretaceous
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| Fossil shell of Acanthoceras rhotomagensis from France, on display at Galerie de paléontologie et d'anatomie comparée in Paris | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| 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
- Acanthoceras wintoni Adkins 1928
- Acanthoceras athabascense Warren and Stelck 1955
- Acanthoceras chasca Benavides-Caceres 1956
- Acanthoceras compitalis Stoyanow 1949
- Acanthoceras folleatum White 1887
- Acanthoceras joserita Stoyanow 1949
- Acanthoceras jukesbrownei Spath 1926
- Acanthoceras offarcinatum White 1887
- Acanthoceras pollocense Benavides-Caceres 1956
- Acanthoceras rhotomagensis Brongniart 1822
- Acanthoceras sangalense Benavides-Caceres 1956
- Acanthoceras seitzi Riedel 1932
References
- Paleobiology Database
- Arkell, W.J. et al., Mesozoic Ammonoidea in the Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Part L, Mollusca 4. Geol Soc of America and Univ Kansas Pres. R.C; Moore (ed)
