Saturday 30 December 2000

HOPLOSCAPHITES MACROCONCH

This sweet beauty is a Hoploscaphites nebrascensis (Owen, 1852) macroconch, the beautiful large female of the species.

Hoploscaphites nebrescensis is an upper Maastrichtian species and index fossil. It marks the top of ammonite zonation for the Western Interior.

It has been recorded from Fox Hills Formation in North and South Dakota as well as the Pierre Shale in southeastern South Dakota and northeastern Nebraska.

It is unknown from Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado due to the deposition of coeval terrestrial units. It has possibly been recorded in glacial deposits in Saskatchewan and northern North Dakota, but that is hearsay. Outside the Western Interior, this species has been found in Maryland and possibly Texas in the Discoscaphites Conrad zone. Collection of the deeply awesome (and enviable) José Juárez Ruiz.