Turrilitaceae

Taxobox
name = Turrilitaceae
status = Fossil

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image_width = 250px
image_caption = A reconstruction of an heteromorph ammonite, "Hamites sp"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Mollusca
classis = Cephalopoda
subclassis = Ammonoidea
ordo = Ammonitida
subordo = Ancyloceratina
subordo_authority = Wiedmann, 1966
superfamilia = Turrilitaceae
subdivision_ranks = Families
subdivision =
* Turrilitidae
* Nostoceratidae
* Hamitidae
* Baculitidae
* Anisoceratidae
* Diplomoceratidae

Superfamily Turrilitaceae ("Tower Stones") was a superfamily of heteromorph ammonites of the suborder Ancyloceratina that lived during the Cretaceous. The shells of most members did not coil in typical ammonite fashion. Some, such as "Turrilites", coiled helically, like an auger shell, while others, such as "Hamites", had loosely coiled shells, while some, such as the famous "Nipponites", coiled in a way so as to appear as a ball of knots.

This group, as with all other Cretaceous ammonites, perished during the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event.

See also

* Nautiloid
* Lituites
* Orthoceras

External links

* [http://palaeo-electronica.org/1998_1/monks/issue1.htm Scientific report on the functional morphology of Cretaceous heteromorph ammonites]