Euhoplites
Encyclopedia
Euhoplites is an extinct ammonoid cephalopod from the Lower Creataceous, characterized by
strongly ribbed, more or less evolute, compressed to inflated shells with flat or concave rims, typically with a deep narrow groove running down the middle. In some, ribs seem to zigzag between umbilical tubercles and parallel ventrolateral clavi. In others the ribs are flexious and curve forward from the umbilical shoulder and lap onto either side of the venter.
Fossils of this animal are commonly found in Lower Cretaceous, Albian
age strata with some coming from the Upper Cretaceous Cenomanian
.
Euhoplites has been found in Middle and Upper Albian beds in France where it is associated respectively with Hoplites and Anahoplites
, and with Pleurohoplites, Puzosia, and Desmoceras; in the Middle Albian of Brazil with Anahoplites and Turrilites; and in the Cenomanian of Texas. It is the most common ammonite fossil of the Folkstone (sometimes spelt "Folkestone") fossil beds in southeastern England where a variety of species are found.
Its shell was covered with lumps and bumps. The function of these adornments are unknown, although they may have been a source of hydrodynamic drag, preventing Euhoplites from swimming at high speeds. Studying them, therefore, may give some insight into the lifestyle of this ancient marine predator. Euhoplites was a small Ammonite with shells of diameters of at most a few inches in diameter, depending on the age, species and possibly gender of the individual.
strongly ribbed, more or less evolute, compressed to inflated shells with flat or concave rims, typically with a deep narrow groove running down the middle. In some, ribs seem to zigzag between umbilical tubercles and parallel ventrolateral clavi. In others the ribs are flexious and curve forward from the umbilical shoulder and lap onto either side of the venter.
Fossils of this animal are commonly found in Lower Cretaceous, Albian
Albian
The Albian is both an age of the geologic timescale and a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is the youngest or uppermost subdivision of the Early/Lower Cretaceous epoch/series. Its approximate time range is 112.0 ± 1.0 Ma to 99.6 ± 0.9 Ma...
age strata with some coming from the Upper Cretaceous Cenomanian
Cenomanian
The Cenomanian is, in the ICS' geological timescale the oldest or earliest age of the Late Cretaceous epoch or the lowest stage of the Upper Cretaceous series. An age is a unit of geochronology: it is a unit of time; the stage is a unit in the stratigraphic column deposited during the corresponding...
.
Euhoplites has been found in Middle and Upper Albian beds in France where it is associated respectively with Hoplites and Anahoplites
Anahoplites
Anahoplites is an extinct genus of cephalopod belonging to the Ammonite subclass....
, and with Pleurohoplites, Puzosia, and Desmoceras; in the Middle Albian of Brazil with Anahoplites and Turrilites; and in the Cenomanian of Texas. It is the most common ammonite fossil of the Folkstone (sometimes spelt "Folkestone") fossil beds in southeastern England where a variety of species are found.
Its shell was covered with lumps and bumps. The function of these adornments are unknown, although they may have been a source of hydrodynamic drag, preventing Euhoplites from swimming at high speeds. Studying them, therefore, may give some insight into the lifestyle of this ancient marine predator. Euhoplites was a small Ammonite with shells of diameters of at most a few inches in diameter, depending on the age, species and possibly gender of the individual.