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Cameral Membranes, Pseudosutures, and Other Soft Tissue Imprints in Ammonoid Shells

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Ammonoid Paleobiology: From anatomy to ecology

Part of the book series: Topics in Geobiology ((TGBI,volume 43))

Abstract

Ammonoids occasionally show subtle structures linked with the attachment or contact of the soft body with the shell. Only some of these structures were mineralized and thus are rarely preserved. We describe mainly three different kinds of structures, namely (i) cameral membranes, (ii) muscle imprints (excluding muscle attachment structures) and (iii) blood vessels. Cameral membranes (i) have been discovered only in a small fraction of ammonoid species and are close to the siphuncle or cut off parts of the chambers or separate the chamber volumes vertically. Pseudosutures commonly run subparallel to the normal sutures, although they are fainter. They likely formed during the forward movement of the septal mantle prior to the insertion of a new septum. Drag lines (ii) also developed in the course of this process or may represent imprints of muscle fibers. Blood vessels (iii) also left imprints in ammonoid shells.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Helmut Keupp (Berlin) and Anthea Lacchia (Dublin) for helpful reviews of the manuscript. Some of the results presented herein were obtained in the course of the research projects funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation SNF, #200021–113956⁄1, #200020–25029, and #200020–132870. Some of the images were kindly provided by Hans Hagdorn (Ingelfingen), David Ware (Zürich), René Hoffmann (Bochum) and Wolfgang Weitschat (Hamburg). We greatly acknowledge these contributions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Kingsborough Community College, 2001 Oriental Boulevard, 11235, Brooklyn, NY, USA

    Kristin Polizzotto

  2. Division of Paleontology (Invertebrates), American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, 10024, New York, NY, USA

    Neil H. Landman

  3. Paläontologisches Institut und Museum, University of Zurich, Karl Schmid-Strasse 6, 8006, Zurich, CH, Switzerland

    Christian Klug

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  1. Kristin Polizzotto
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  2. Neil H. Landman
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Correspondence to Kristin Polizzotto .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Paläontologisches Institut und Museum, University of Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland

    Christian Klug

  2. Leibniz-Institut für Evolutions und Biodiversitätsforschung, Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, Germany

    Dieter Korn

  3. GeoZentrum Nordbayern, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany

    Kenneth De Baets

  4. Division of Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York, USA

    Isabelle Kruta

  5. North Carolina Museum of Natural Science, Raleigh, USA

    Royal H. Mapes

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Polizzotto, K., Landman, N., Klug, C. (2015). Cameral Membranes, Pseudosutures, and Other Soft Tissue Imprints in Ammonoid Shells. In: Klug, C., Korn, D., De Baets, K., Kruta, I., Mapes, R. (eds) Ammonoid Paleobiology: From anatomy to ecology. Topics in Geobiology, vol 43. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9630-9_4

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