Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Protostomia
Cladus: Spiralia
Cladus: Lophotrochozoa
Phylum: Mollusca
Classis: Cephalopoda
Subclassis: †Ammonoidea
Ordo: †Ammonitida
SubOrdo: † Ancyloceratina
Superfamilia: Scaphitaceae
Familia: † Scaphitidae
Subfamilia: Scaphitinae
Genus: Scaphites
Scaphites is a genus of heteromorph ammonites belonging to the Scaphitidae family. They were a widespread genus that thrived during the Late Cretaceous period.
Morphology
Scaphites generally have a chambered, boat-shaped shell. The initial part (juvenile stage) of the shell is generally more or less involute (tightly coiled) and compressed, giving no hint of the heteromorphic shell form yet to come. The terminal part (adult stage) is much shorter, erect, and bends over the older shell like a hook. They have transverse, branching ribs with tubercles (small bumps) along the venter.
Suture pattern of Scaphites
Reconstructions of the body within the shell can be made to portray Scaphites as either a benthic (bottom-dwelling) or planktonic animal, depending on where the center of gravity is located. Since useful fossils of the soft-body parts of cephalopods are highly rare, little is known about how this animal actually fit into its shell and lived its life.[citation needed]
Age
Because Scaphites and its relatives in the superfamily Scaphitoidea are restricted to certain ages of the Cretaceous (ca. 144 to 66.4 million years ago), they are useful in some areas as an index fossil. A notable example is the Late Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway in North America, in which several endemic lineages of scaphite species evolved and now serve as the basis for a highly resolved regional biostratigraphy.
Species
Scaphites binneyi † Reeside, 1927
Scaphites carlilensis † Morrow, 1935
Scaphites depressus † Reeside, 1927
Scaphites ferronensis † Cobban, 1951
Scaphites frontierensis † Cobban, 1951
Scaphites hippocrepis † DeKay, 1827
Scaphites impendicostatus † Cobban, 1951
Scaphites leei † Reeside, 1927
Scaphites nanus † Reeside, 1927
Scaphites nodosus †
Scaphites obliquus † J. Sowerby, 1813
Scaphites preventricosus † Cobban, 1951
Scaphites tetonensis † Cobban, 1951
Scaphites uintensis † Cobban, 1951
Scaphites warreni † Meek and Hayden, 1860
Scaphites whitfieldi † Cobban, 1951
Distribution
Fossils of Scaphites have been found in Antarctica, Armenia, Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada (Alberta, British Columbia, Northwest Territories), Denmark, France, Germany, Greenland, India, Italy, Japan, Madagascar, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States (Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Wyoming).[1]
References
iconPaleontology portal
Scaphites at Fossilworks.org
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/"
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