Ammonitida
Encyclopedia
The Ammonitida is an order of more highly evolved ammonoid cephalopods from the Jurassic
Jurassic
The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about Mya to  Mya, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic era, also known as the age of reptiles. The start of the period is marked by...

 and Cretaceous
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...

 time periods, commonly with intricate ammonitic sutures.

The Ammonitida are divided into four suborders, the Phylloceratina
Phylloceratina
The Phyllocertina comprise a suborder of ammonoid cephalopods, belonging to the Ammonitida, whose range extends from the Lower Triassic to the Upper Cretaceous...

, Lytoceratina
Lytoceratina
Lytoceratina is a suborder of Jurassic and Cretaceous ammonites that produced loosely coiled, evolute and gyroconic shells in which the sutural element are said to have complex moss-like endings.-Morphologic characteristics:...

, Ancyloceratina
Ancyloceratina
The Ancyloceratina were a diverse suborder of ammonite most closely related to the ammonites of order Lytoceratina. They evolved during the Late Jurassic but were not very common until the Cretaceous period, when they rapidly diversified and become one of the most distinctive components of...

, and
Ammonitina
Ammonitina
The Ammonitina comprises a diverse suborder of ammonoid cephalopods that lived during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods of the Mesozoic Era. They are excellent index fossils, and it is often possible to link the rock layer in which they are found to specific geological time periods.The shells of...

.

The Phylloceratina is the ancestral stock, derived from the Ceratitida
Ceratitida
The Ceratitida is an order that contains almost all ammonoid cephalopod genera from the Triassic as well as ancestral forms from the Upper Permian, the exception being the phylloceratids which gave rise to the great diversity of post Triassic ammonites....

 near the end of the Triassic
Triassic
The Triassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about 250 to 200 Mya . As the first period of the Mesozoic Era, the Triassic follows the Permian and is followed by the Jurassic. Both the start and end of the Triassic are marked by major extinction events...

. The Phylloceratina gave rise to the Lytoceratina near the beginning of the Jurassic which in tern gave rise to the highly specialized Ancyloceratina near the end of the Jurassic. Both the Phylloceratina and Lytoceratina gave rise to various stocks combined in the Ammonitina.

These four suborders are further divided into different stocks, comprising various families combined into superfamilies. Some like the Hildocerataceae
Hildocerataceae
Hildocerataceae is a superfamily of compressed or planulate ammonites, some tending to develop acute outer rims; generally with arcuate or sigmoidal ribs. Aptichus were found in place are double-valved....

 and Stephanocerataceae
Stephanocerataceae
Stephanocerataceae is a superfamily of middle Jurassic ammonoid cephalopods within the order Ammonitida containing diverse forms, generally with sharp ribbing and complex suture lines...

 are restricted to the Jurassic. Others like the Hoplitaceae
Hoplitaceae
Hoplitaceae is a superfamily of mostly Upper Cretaceous ammonites comprising families united by a similar suture pattern with multiple similar elements that tend to decrease in size going toward the umbilicus, at the inner edge of any whorl, and which are typically in a straight line...

 and Acanthocerataceae
Acanthocerataceae
Acanthocerataceae is a superfamily of extinct Upper Creataceous ammonoid cephalopods belonging to the order, Ammonitida, and comprising some 10 or so families.-Analysis:...

 are known only from the Cretaceous. Still others like the Perisphinctaceae
Perisphinctaceae
Perisphinctoidea, formerly Perisphinctaceae, is a superfamily of Middle Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous ammonites, commonly with evolute shells with strong ribbing that typically divides about mid flank before crossing the venter....

are found in both.
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