Daughter taxa: (blue => in age window 0-800Ma) | Granddaughter taxa | ||||
extant species | |||||
![]() | ![]() | Ceratolithus cristatus Ceratoliths horsehoe-shaped without rostrum. Heterococcoliths with broad central opening | |||
![]() | Ceratolithus nishidae Ceratoliths horsehoe-shaped with rostrum. Heterococcoliths with narrow central opening | ||||
fossil species | |||||
![]() | Ceratolithus apiculus Like C. armatus but with short horns and wide, triangular, apical spine. | ||||
![]() | ![]() | Ceratolithus armatus Left arm extends into apical spur producing a triangular apical area. Right arm longer than left | |||
![]() | Ceratolithus atlanticus complex ceratoliths with spines extending from arch | ||||
Ceratolithus larrymayeri Delicate ceratolith with thin arms and apical spine; featureless surface. | |||||
![]() | Ceratolithus separatus Arms sub-parallel and separated by a broad arch. | ||||
Ceratolithus sp. Specimens which cannot be assigned to established species |
Taxonomy:
Distinguishing features: Ceratoliths strongly birefringent
Farinacci & Howe catalog pages: Ceratolithus * , Neosphaera * , Craspedolithus *
Morphology: Ceratoliths strongly birefringent, c-axis lies in plane of horseshoe, perpendicular to length. The upper surface of the ceratoliths is more ornate than the lower surface, in LM this can be used to tell which way up the specimen is, this is necessary in order to distinguish left and right arms. It is worthwhile since within species the two arms show consistent differences.
Biology & life-cycles: The extant species C. cristatus and C. nishidae also produce hoop-shaped coccoliths and "Neosphaera" planoliths. See species description for details.
Tags | LITHS: nannolith-other, asymmetric, horseshoe-shaped, CROSS-POLARS: 1ou, R-prominent, |
Metrics | Lith size: 0->0µm; Segments: 1->1; |
Geological Range:
Last occurrence (top): Extant Data source: Total of range of species in this database
First occurrence (base): in lower part of Tortonian Stage (24% up, 10.6Ma, in Tortonian stage). Data source: Total of range of species in this database
Plot of occurrence data:
Kamptner, E. (1950). Über den submikroskopischen Aufbau der Coccolithen. Anzeiger der Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Mathematische-Naturwissenschafliche Klasse, Wien. 87: 152-158. gs Kamptner, E. (1963). Coccolithineen-Skelettreste aus Tiefseeablagerungen des Pazifischen Ozeans. Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien. 66: 139-204. gs V O Lecal-Schlauder, J. (1950). Notes preliminaires sur les Coccolithophorides d'Afrique du Nord. Bulletin de la Société d'Histoire Naturelle de l'Afrique du Nord. 40: 160-167. gs Raffi, I., Backman, J. & Rio, D. (1998). Evolutionary trends of tropical calcareous nannofossils in the late Neogene. Marine Micropaleontology. 35(1): 17-41. gsReferences:
![]() |
Ceratolithus compiled by Jeremy R. Young, Paul R. Bown, Jacqueline A. Lees viewed: 21-1-2021
Short stable page link: http://mikrotax.org/Nannotax3/index.php?id=250 Go to Archive.is to create a permanent copy of this page - citation notes |