Lytoceras is an ammonite genus that was extant during most of the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, and is the type genus for the family Lytoceratidae. These cephalopods were fast-moving nektonic carnivores.

Lytoceras
Temporal range: Sinemurian–Cenomanian[1]
Lytoceras fimbriatum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Cephalopoda
Subclass: Ammonoidea
Order: Ammonitida
Family: Lytoceratidae
Subfamily: Lytoceratinae
Genus: Lytoceras
Suess, 1865
Species[2]

Description

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The giant L. taharoaense, Auckland War Memorial Museum

Shells of Lytoceras are evolute, round or quadrate in section, covered with crinkled growth lines or riblets, and may have slight constrictions on internal molds. Some have fine striations, (parallel grooves running longitudinally along the flanks).

Distribution

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Fossils of species within this genus have been found in the Jurassic and Cretaceous rocks all over the world, particularly in Western Europe, Morocco, Madagascar, South Africa and United States.[2]


References

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  1. ^ Sepkoski, Jack (2002). "A compendium of fossil marine animal genera (Cephalopoda entry)". Bulletins of American Paleontology. 363: 1–560. Archived from the original on 2008-05-07. Retrieved 2017-10-18.
  2. ^ a b Paleobiology Database - Lytoceras. 2017-10-19.

  Media related to Lytoceras at Wikimedia Commons

  • Systematic descriptions, Mesozoic Ammonoidea, by W.J Arkell, Bernhard Kummel, and C.W. Wright. 1957. Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Part L. Geological Society of America and University of Kansas press.