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A new morphotype of lower jaw associated with Calliphylloceras (Cephalopoda: Ammonoidea) from the Middle Jurassic of the Northern Caucasus

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Abstract

The body chamber of an ammonoid of the genus Calliphylloceras (Suborder Phylloceratina) containing its lower jaw is reported from the Upper Bajocian (Strenoceras niortense Zone) of the Northern Caucasus. The arrangement, state of preservation, and size of the lower jaw suggest preservation in situ. The general morphology of the lower jaw strongly resembles the chitinous inner lamella of the aptychus-type lower jaws, because it is divided into two almost symmetric parts by a median harmonic midline joint termed symphysis. However, outer bivalved calcitic plates (apytchus sensu stricto) cannot be recognized in the present lower jaw. Early Jurassic Phylloceratina are known to have had lower jaws of the anaptychus-type, whereas Late Cretaceous taxa had lower jaws of the rhynchaptychus-type. It appears that in the Middle Jurassic a third morphotype of lower jaws was present in Phylloceratina, for which we introduce the new term ‘phyllaptychusʼ.

Kurzfassung

Aus dem Ober-Bajocium (Strenoceras niortense-Zone)) des Nordkaukasus wird die Wohnkammer eines Ammoniten der Gattung Calliphylloceras (Unterordnung Phylloceratina) mit einem Unterkiefer vorgestellt. Die Einbettungslage, Erhaltung und die Größe des Unterkiefers deutet auf einen in situ-Fund. Die allgemeine Morphologie dieses Unterkiefers erinnert stark an die chitinige Innenlamelle des Aptychus-Typs von Unterkiefern, da er von einer mittigen Sutur, Symphyse genannt, in zwei beinahe symmetrische Hälften geteilt wird. Äußere doppelklappige calcitische Platten (Aptychus im strengen Sinn) sind bei diesem Unterkiefer jedoch nicht erkennbar. Von frühjurassischen Phylloceratina sind Unterkiefer des Anaptychus-Typs bekannt, wogegen die spätkretazischen Arten Unterkiefer des Rhynchaptychus-Typs besaßen. Offenbar existierte während des Mittleren Juras bei den Phylloceratina noch ein dritter Unterkiefer-Morphotyp, für den wir den neuen Namen „Phyllaptychus“einführen.

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Acknowledgments

Sixto Fernández-López (Madrid, Spain), Giulio Pavia (Asti, Italy), Aleksandr Kilin (Moscow), Mikhail Sherstyukov (Stavropol), Tatiana Palechek (Moscow), and Larisa Glinskikh (Novosibirsk) helped with fieldwork. The photographs were taken by Sergey Bagirov (Moscow). The English translation was checked by Max Barclay (NHM, London). We are sincerely grateful to all colleagues, who helped at all stages of this research. The referees Helmut Keupp (Berlin) and Kazushige Tanabe (Tokyo) are thanked for their comments that helped to improve the manuscript.

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  1. Borissiak Palaeontological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Profsoyuznaya 123, Moscow, 117997, Russia

    Vasily V. Mitta

  2. Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde, Rosenstein 1, 70191, Stuttgart, Germany

    Günter Schweigert

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  1. Vasily V. Mitta
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  2. Günter Schweigert
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Correspondence to Vasily V. Mitta.

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Mitta, V.V., Schweigert, G. A new morphotype of lower jaw associated with Calliphylloceras (Cephalopoda: Ammonoidea) from the Middle Jurassic of the Northern Caucasus. PalZ 90, 293–297 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12542-016-0288-6

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