Nipponites
| Nipponites Temporal range:
| |
|---|---|
| File:Nipponites.jpg | |
| Fossils of Nipponites mirabilis from an exhibit at the National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo, Japan | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Cephalopoda |
| Subclass: | †Ammonoidea |
| Order: | †Ammonitida |
| Suborder: | †Ancyloceratina |
| Family: | †Nostoceratidae |
| Genus: | †Nipponites Yabe, 1904 |
| Species | |
| |
Nipponites is an extinct genus of heteromorph ammonites. The shells of Nipponites (primarily N. mirabilis) form "ox-bow" bends, resulting in some of the most bizarre shapes seen among ammonites.
The ecology of Nipponites, as with many other nostoceratids, is subject to much speculation.
Distribution
[edit | edit source]Fossils of most species are found primarily in Upper Cretaceous strata of Japan. N. mirabilis is found in Coniacian-aged strata of Japan and possibly Turonian-aged strata in Madagascar.[2] N. bacchus is found in Upper Cretaceous Hokkaido. Two species are found exclusively outside Japan, N. sachalinensis, which is found in Upper Cretaceous strata of Sakhalin island, and Kamchatka peninsula,[3] and N. occidentalis, which is known from two shells found in the Turonian-aged Hornbrook Formation of Southern Oregon.[4]
In popular culture
[edit | edit source]A Japanese academic institution Paleontological Society of Japan (ja:日本古生物学会) has Nipponites as its symbol. That organization established October 15 as "Fossil Day", according to the date of first description of N. mirabilis and "International Fossil Day" by International Palaeontological Association (not to confuse with National Fossil Day).[5]
Image gallery
[edit | edit source]-
N. mirabilis
-
N. mirabilis
-
N. mirabilis
References
[edit | edit source]- Notes
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Shigeta, Yasunari, and Haruyoshi Maeda. "Yezo Group research in Sakhalin—a historical review." National Science Museum Monographs 31 (2005): 1-24.
- ^ Ward, Peter D., and Gerd EG Westermann. "First occurrence, systematics, and functional morphology of Nipponites (Cretaceous Lytoceratina) from the Americas." Journal of Paleontology (1977): 367-372.
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- Bibliography
- Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Media related to Lua error in Module:Commons_link at line 62: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). at Wikimedia Commons
Lua error in Module:Taxonbar at line 165: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
