Apparition d'une morphologie scaphitomorphe par miniaturisation chez une ammonite oxfordienne : Scaphitodites scaphitoides ()

1997

The pyritized fossil-bearing marls of the Jura (Lower Oxfordian) contain an ammonite that is remarkable because of its tiny adult size (less than 16 mm) and of the scaphitoidal coiling of its body chamber, which is similar to that of certain Cretaceous Scaphitaceae. Anatomical and ontogenetic analysis demonstrates that these individuals, which are ascribed to Scaphitodites scaphitoides (Coquand, 1853), formed a single species. We argue that the genus Scaphitodites derived from Taramelliceras by a complex process of progenesis (sensu Landman et al., 1991).