Perisphinctes
Extinct genus of ammonite
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Perisphinctes is an extinct genus of ammonite cephalopod. They lived during the Middle to Late Jurassic epochs and serve as an index fossil for that time period.[5] The species P. boweni was named after the English chemist and geologist E. J. Bowen (1898–1980).[6]
| Perisphinctes Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
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| Exhibit from the Museum of Natural History in Berlin | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Cephalopoda |
| Subclass: | †Ammonoidea |
| Order: | †Ammonitida |
| Family: | †Perisphinctidae |
| Subfamily: | †Perisphinctinae |
| Genus: | †Perisphinctes Waagen, 1869[2] |
| Type species | |
| Ammonites variocostatus[3] Buckland, 1836 | |
| Species[4] | |
| |
Etymology
The genus name Perisphinctes is derived from the greek prefix peri- (περί), meaning "around," and sphinctes (from σφίγγω, sphingō, "to bind tightly"), referring to the tightly coiled ammonite shell.
Distribution
Cephalopods of species belonging to this genus have been found in the Jurassic of Antarctica, Argentina, Chile, Cuba, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Iran, Italy, Japan, Madagascar, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Yemen.[4]
Gallery
Perisphinctes virguloides
Perisphinctes choffati
Perisphinctes plicatilis
Perisphingtes oxfordien
_virguloides_(Waagen).jpg)
