New records of Tmaegoceras lacordarii (Michelin, 1835) from the Lower Jurassic Arietenkalk Formation of SW Germany and its systematic relationships

Abstract

New material of the enigmatic cosmopolitan ammonite genus Tmaegoceras Hyatt, 1889 is reported from the upper Lower Sinemurian (Bucklandi Zone, ‛cf. pinguisʼ Biohorizon) of SW Germany. It is better preserved than previously described material. All specimens are assigned to Tmaegoceras lacordarii (Michelin, 1835), an almost forgotten subjective senior synonym of Tmaegoceras crassiceps Pompeckj, 1901. The presence of an extreme rursiradiate ribbing style in some specimens allows a better understanding of this genus and provides a hint for its systematic affiliation. This diagnostic ribbing style is shared with some extremely rare Alpine taxa such as Ammonites salinarius Hauer, 1846 and “Arietites” subsalinarius Wähner, 1891. Tmaegoceras is included here in Pseudotropitinae Donovan, 1973. Pseudotropitinae are possibly an early offshoot of Arietitidae indigenous of the Panthalassa Realm that occasionally spread into the Tethys and its adjacent shelves. A phyletic relationship with Late Triassic Tropitidae Mojsisovics, 1875, however, cannot be excluded either.