Short diagnosis: Ceratoliths strongly birefringent
| Daughter taxa (blue => in age window 0-300Ma) | Granddaughter taxa | ||||
| | | | Left arm extends into apical spur producing a triangular apical area. Right arm longer than left | |
| | | | complex ceratoliths with spines extending from arch | |
| | | | ceratoliths horsehoe-shaped | |
| | | | Delicate ceratolith with thin arms and apical spine; featureless surface. | |
| | | | Specimens which cannot be assigned to established species | |
Taxonomy:
Farinacci & Howe catalog pages: Ceratolithus * Craspedolithus * Neosphaera *
Short diagnosis: Ceratoliths strongly birefringent
Morphology remarks: Ceratoliths strongly birefringent, c-axis lies in plane of horseshoe, perpendicular to length. THe upper surface of 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 also produces hoop-shaped coccoliths and "Neosphaera" planoliths. See species description for details.
Geological Range:
Last occurrence (top): Extant Data source: Total of range of species in this database
First occurrence (base): within Tortonian Stage (7.25-11.62Ma, base 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. Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften. Mathematische-Naturwissenschafliche Klasse. Wien, 87: 152-158. Kamptner, E., (1963). Coccolithineen-Skelettreste aus Tiefseeablagerungen des Pazifischen Ozeans. Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien, 66: 139-204. 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. Raffi, I.; Backman, J. & Rio, D., (1998). Evolutionary trends of tropical calcareous nannofossils in the late Neogene. Marine Micropaleontology, 35(1): 17-41.References:
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Ceratolithus compiled by Jeremy R. Young, Paul R. Bown, Jacqueline A. Lees viewed: 17-8-2017
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