Scaphites

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}} {{short description|Genus of mollusks (fossil)}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = SmallScaphites.jpg | fossil_range = Cretaceous, {{fossilrange|105|66}} | image_caption = ''Scaphites'' sp. from Colorado Specimen is {{convert|2.8|cm|in}} from top to bottom | taxon = Scaphites | authority = Parkinson, 1811 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = See text }}

'''''Scaphites''''' is a genus of heteromorph ammonites belonging to the Scaphitidae family. They were a widespread genus that thrived during the Late Cretaceous period.

==Morphology== ''Scaphites'' generally have a chambered, boat-shaped shell. The initial part (juvenile stage) of the shell is generally more or less involute (tightly coiled) and compressed, giving no hint of the heteromorphic shell form yet to come. The terminal part (adult stage) is much shorter, erect, and bends over the older shell like a hook. They have transverse, branching ribs with tubercles (small bumps) along the venter.

thumb|200px|left|Suture pattern of ''Scaphites''Reconstructions of the body within the shell can be made to portray ''Scaphites'' as either a benthic (bottom-dwelling) or planktonic animal, depending on where the center of gravity is located. Since useful fossils of the soft-body parts of cephalopods are highly rare, little is known about how this animal actually fit into its shell and lived its life.{{citation needed|date=November 2017}}

==Age== Because ''Scaphites'' and its relatives in the superfamily Scaphitoidea are restricted to certain ages of the Cretaceous (''ca.'' 144 to 66.4 million years ago), they are useful in some areas as an index fossil. A notable example is the Late Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway in North America, in which several endemic lineages of scaphite species evolved and now serve as the basis for a highly resolved regional biostratigraphy.

== Species == * ''Scaphites aequalis'' † J. Sowerby, 1813 * ''Scaphites binneyi'' † Reeside, 1927 * ''Scaphites carlilensis'' † Morrow, 1935 * ''Scaphites depressus'' † Reeside, 1927 * ''Scaphites ferronensis'' † Cobban, 1951 * ''Scaphites frontierensis'' † Cobban, 1951 * ''Scaphites hippocrepis'' † DeKay, 1827 * ''Scaphites impendicostatus'' † Cobban, 1951 * ''Scaphites leei'' † Reeside, 1927 * ''Scaphites nanus'' † Reeside, 1927 * ''Scaphites nodosus'' † * ''Scaphites obliquus'' † J. Sowerby, 1813 * ''Scaphites preventricosus'' † Cobban, 1951 * ''Scaphites tetonensis'' † Cobban, 1951 * ''Scaphites uintensis'' † Cobban, 1951 * ''Scaphites warreni'' † Meek and Hayden, 1860 * ''Scaphites whitfieldi'' † Cobban, 1951

== Distribution == Fossils of ''Scaphites'' have been found in Antarctica, Armenia, Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada (Alberta, British Columbia, Northwest Territories), Denmark, France, Germany, Greenland, India, Italy, Japan, Madagascar, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States (Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Wyoming).<ref name=FWScaphites>[https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=95930 ''Scaphites''] at Fossilworks.org</ref>

== References == {{Portal|Paleontology}} {{Reflist}}

== External links == * [https://web.archive.org/web/20060303122039/http://homepage.mac.com/nmonks/ammonites/moreammonites.html Hypothetical reconstructions of various genera of Ancyloceratida] * [http://www.ammonoid.com/Scaphites.htm Ammonoid.com] * [http://www.ammonoid.com/ufc-Strat.htm A Biostratigraphic List of fossil Cephalopods in Utah]

{{Taxonbar|from=Q1061798}} Category:Late Cretaceous ammonites of Europe Category:Ammonitida genera Category:Scaphitidae Category:Cretaceous ammonites Category:Ammonites of Antarctica Category:Cretaceous ammonites of North America Category:Cretaceous Mexico Category:Cretaceous Europe Category:Cretaceous Africa Category:Cretaceous Asia Category:Fossil taxa described in 1811