Puzosia
Puzosia is a genus of desmoceratid ammonites, and the type genus for the Puzosiinae, which lived during the middle part of the Cretaceous, from early Aptian to Maastrichtian (125.5 to 70.6 Ma).[1] Sepkoski defines the range from Albian to Santonian.[2] The generic name comes from the Serbian words "Puž" (snail) and "oce/ose" (axis), gaining its name from the shell's snail-like appearance.
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| Fossil shell of Puzosia compressa from Madagascar, on display at Galerie de paléontologie et d'anatomie comparée in Paris | |
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| Subfamily: | Puzosiinae |
| Genus: | Puzosia Bayle, 1878 |
Subgenera and species[1]
- Puzosia (Anapuzosia) Matsumoto 1954
- Puzosia (Bhimaites) Matsumoto 1954
- Puzosia (Bhimaites) bhima Stoliczka 1865
- Puzosia (Puzosia) Bayle 1878
- Puzosia (Puzosia) mayoriana d'Orbigny 1841
- Puzosia (Puzosia) planulatus Sowerby 1827
- Puzosia alaskana Imlay 1960
- Puzosia bistricta White 1887
- Puzosia brasiliana Maury 1936
- Puzosia crebrisulcata Kossmat 1898
- Puzosia dilleri Anderson 1902
- Puzosia garajauana Maury 1936
- Puzosia lata Seitz 1931
- Puzosia longmani Whitehouse 1926
- Puzosia lytoceroides Haas 1952
- Puzosia media Seitz 1931
- Puzosia quenstedti Parona and Bonarelli 1897
- Puzosia rosarica Maury 1936
- Puzosia skidegatensis McLearn 1972
Description
The shell of Puzosia is basically discoidal, evolute to subinvolute, with a wide umbiicaus. Sides bear close spaced sinuous ribs, periodically interrupted by narrow sinuous constrictions, about six per whorl. Whorl section is somewhat compressed, higher than wide, with slightly convex sides and rounded venter. The suture is complexly ammonitic.
Distribution
Fossils of species within this genus have been found in the Cretaceous sediments of Angola, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia (Tolima), Egypt, France, Germany, India, Iran, Italy, Japan, Madagascar, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Peru, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Suriname, the United Kingdom, United States.[1]
In 2019, a Puzosia (Bhimaites) shell was found fossilized in a 99 million-year-old chunk of Burmese amber from Myanmar, marking the first known discovery of an ammonite preserved in amber. The ammonite's shell was presumably picked up and preserved after the resin fell off a tree and tumbled across the seashore.[3][4]
References
- Puzosia at Fossilworks.org
- Sepkoski, Jack Sepkoski's Online Genus Database – Cephalopoda
- "This ancient sea creature fossilized in tree resin. How'd that happen?". Science & Innovation. 2019-05-13. Retrieved 2019-05-14.
- Dilcher, David; Wang, Bo; Zhang, Haichun; Xia, Fangyuan; Broly, Pierre; Kennedy, Jim; Ross, Andrew; Mu, Lin; Kelly, Richard (2019-05-10). "An ammonite trapped in Burmese amber". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 116 (23): 11345–11350. doi:10.1073/pnas.1821292116. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 6561253. PMID 31085633.
Further reading
- W.J. Arkell et al., 1957. Mesozoic Ammonoidea L365, Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Part L, Ammonoidea. Geological Society of America and Univ Kansas Press.