Turrilitina

Turrilitina is a proposed suborder of Cretaceous heteromorph ammonoid cephalopods derived from the Lytoceratidae in the Hauterivian stage of the Lower Cretaceous that would include the superfamilies Turrilitoidea, Ptychoceratoidea, and Scaphatoidea.

Turrilitina Temporal range: Hauterivian - Maastrichtian
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Cephalopoda
Subclass:	Ammonoidea
Order:	Ammonitida
Suborder:	Turrilitina Beznosov & Mikhailova, 1983
Superfamilies
Turrilitoidea Ptychoceratoidea Scaphatoidea

Turrilitina was recognized as a distinct group or clade from the Ancyloceratina as defined by Weidmann, 1966, by Beznosov and Mikhailova in 1983. The group may have its origin in the ammonitid superfamily Perisphinctaceae.

Turrilitina is the Turrilitaceae of Arkell et al 1957, including the Ptychoceratidae and Macroscaphitidae, along with the Scaphitaceae which the Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology shows with a separate and later derivation from the Lytoceratidae.

Acceptance of Turrilitina as a valid suborder is not widely held, with most authors preferring the placement of Turriloidea, Ptychoceratoidea, and Scaphatoidea in Ancyloceratina.

References

• Arkell et al 1957. Mesozoic Ammonoidea, Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Part L (Ammonoidea). Geol. Soc. Amer. and Univ. Kans. press.
• Beznosov & Mikhailova,1983, in Mikhailova, I.A. and E. Yu. Baraboshkin, 2009. The Evolution of the Heteromorph and Monomorph Early Cretaceous Ammonites of the Suborder Ancyloceratina Wiedmann, Paleontological Journal, 2009, Vol. 43, No. 5, pp. 527–536.