New and Poorly Known Perisphinctoidea (Ammonitina) from the Upper Tithonian of Le Chouet (Drôme, SE France)
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Volumina Jurassica, 2014, Xii (1): 113–128 New and poorly known Perisphinctoidea (Ammonitina) from the Upper Tithonian of Le Chouet (Drôme, SE France) Luc G. BULOT1, Camille FRAU2, William A.P. WIMBLEDON3 Key words: Ammonoidea, Ataxioceratidae, Himalayitidae, Neocomitidae, Upper Tithonian, Le Chouet, South-East France. Abstract. The aim of this paper is to document the ammonite fauna of the upper part of the Late Tithonian collected at the key section of Le Chouet (Drôme, SE France). Emphasis is laid on new and poorly known Ataxioceratidae, Himalayitidae and Neocomitidae from the upper part of the Tithonian. Among the Ataxioceratidae, a new account on the taxonomy and relationship between Paraulacosphinctes Schindewolf and Moravisphinctes Tavera is presented. Regarding the Himalayitidae, the range and content of Micracanthoceras Spath is discussed and two new genera are introduced: Ardesciella gen. nov., for a group of Mediterranean ammonites that is homoeomorphic with the Andean genus Corongoceras Spath, and Pratumidiscus gen. nov. for a specimen that shows morphological similarities with the Boreal genera Riasanites Spath and Riasanella Mitta. Finally, the occurrence of Neocomitidae in the uppermost Tithonian is documented by the presence of the reputedly Berriasian genera Busnardoiceras Tavera and Pseudargentiniceras Spath. INTRODUCTION known Perisphinctoidea from the Upper Tithonian of this reference section. Additional data on the Himalayitidae in- The unique character of the ammonite fauna of Le Chouet cluding the description and discussion of Boughdiriella (near Les Près, Drôme, France) (Fig. 1) has already been chouetensis gen. nov. sp. nov. are to be published elsewhere outlined by Le Hégarat (1973), but, so far, only a handful of (Frau et al., 2014). specimens have been illustrated by Enay et al. (1998a, fig. 2). In recent years, new fieldwork has allowed us to sam- ple the Chouet section bed by bed and to collect over 400 GEOLOGICAL SETTING new specimens. A preliminary account on the ammonite dis- tribution across the Tithonian-Berriasian boundary was pub- A detailed geological description of the Le Chouet sec- lished by Wimbledon et al. (2013), but in that paper we did tion, including lithostratigraphy, sedimentology, bio strati- not illustrate the fauna. The aim of the present contribution graphy (calpionellids, calcareous nannofossils and ammo- is to document the taxonomy and illustrate new and poorly nites) and magnetostratigraphy has been published by 1 Aix-Marseille Université, UMR-CNRS 7330 CEREGE, Centre Saint-Charles, case 67, 3 place Victor Hugo, 13331 Marseille cedex 03, France; e-mail: [email protected] 2 9bis, Chemin des Poissonniers, 13600 La Ciotat, France 3 School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Queens Road, Bristol BS8 1RJ, United Kingdom 114 Luc G. Bulot et al. Paris Rhône N 0 250 km Marseille Valence 1000 Ardèche 900 1000 Die Le Chouet Luc en Diois 800 Montélimar 700 Hautes- 900 Nyons Alpes 800 0 200 m Vaucluse Alpes-de-Haute- Provence Fig. 1. Locality map of Le Chouet (Les Près, Drôme, SE France) The studied section is marked by a black line Wim bledon et al. (2013). A revised version of the ammonite SYSTEMATIC PALAEONTOLOGY distribution is presented herein (Fig. 2), as a contribution to- ward the integrated stratigraphic scheme of Wimbledon et al. (2013). From bottom to top, three biostratigraphic units At the suprageneric level, the taxonomy adopted herein can be recognized: the upper part of the Micracanthoceras is conservative and follows the classification proposed by microcanthum (= Microcanthum) Zone [Moravisphinctes fis Cecca et al. (1989) for the Ataxioceratidae; Tavera (1985) cheri (= Fischeri) Subzone], the Protacanthodiscus andreaei for the Himalayitidae and Wright et al. (1996) for the Neo- (= Andreaei) Zone (as a replacement for the Durangites spp. comitidae. As already pointed out by Donovan et al. (1981), Zone of the literature) and the lower part of the Berriasella ja Company (1987) and Cecca et al. (1989), the systematics of cobi (= Jacobi) Zone (sensu Hoedemaeker, Bulot, 1990). these families are in a state of chaos and the understanding The minor discrepancies between figure 12 in Wimble- of their phylogenetic relationships is still at a very prelimi- don et al. (2013) and Figure 2 of this paper concern the dis- nary stage. Unfortunately, the material at our disposal is tribution of Micracanthoceras Spath, 1925 and the occur- not yet sufficient for further considerations of these wider rence of supposed Boreal ammonites reported by Wimbledon issues. et al. (2013, p. 451). The range of Micracanthoceras will be discussed below. The reported occurrence of Boreal ammo- nites was based on the identification of ?Praetollia sp. (a single specimen of complex interpretation whose identity with true Praetollia Spath from Greenland is highly doubt- Fig. 2. Integrated stratigraphy and distribution of the Ancyloceratina ful) and ?Riasanites sp. (herein reinterpreted as Pratumidis and Ammonitina around the Tithonian-Berriasian boundary at Le Chouet cus elsae gen. nov. sp. nov.). modified after Wimbledon et al. (2013) New and poorly known Perisphinctoidea (Ammonitina) from the Upper Tithonian of Le Chouet (Drôme, SE France) 115 Calpionellids Magnetostrat. Ammonites Le Chouet 123 33 122 32 121 120 31 119 118 117 30 116 115 114 113 29 112 111 110 109 28 108 Calpionella Zone 107 106 Calpionella alpina (B) Sz. 105 27 104 Dalmasiceras djanelidzei 103 N2 102 26 M19n 101 Dalmasiceras biplanum 100 99 25 98 Jacobi Zone 24 97 96 95 23 94 Dalmasiceras sublaevis 93 92 22 bicostatum 91 microcanthum crassicostatum aff. 90 pseudogroteanum cf. 21 89 88 C. colomi (A3) Sz. 87 20 gr. sp. juv. 86 spp. 85 spp. Spiticeras 84 19 Dalmasiceras Protancycloceras Protancycloceras sp. sp. M19r Spiticeratinae juv. 83 Berriasella 18 Berriasella subcalisto 82 Dalmasiceras rhodanica Pseudoneocomites retowskyi Micracanthoceras 81 Andreaei Zone macrotelum 80 “Mazenoticeras”tarini sp. 79 Bochianites 17 cf. 78 ? Elenaella cularensis 7677 aff. 75 sp. 74 sp. 73 Protancycloceras 72 16 andreaei Himalayitidae sp. indet. “Berriasella” tithonica Crassicollaria Zone gr. gr. gen. nov. sp. nov. gen. nov. Ardesciella Ardesciella Protacanthodiscus hexagonus Protacanthodiscus 71 15 Dalmasiceras Cyrtosiceras Proniceras gen. nov. sp. nov. gen. nov. Toucasiella gerardi Toucasiella 14 busnardoi Busnardoiceras 70 C. intermedia (A2) Sz. 69 Pseudargenticeras 68 ? 67 M. fischeri Subzone 66 13 65 Protacanthodiscus Protacanthodiscus Pratumidiscus elsae 12 M20n.1n 64 N1 senoides 63 11 62 61 60 Boughdiriella chouetensis 59 58 Micracanthoceras microcanthum Zone 10 57 5655 5453 remanei (A1) Sz. T. 52 9 Moravisphinctes fischeri 51 Paraulacosphinctes 50 8 4948 ? 47 46 116 Luc G. Bulot et al. Conventions: Preservation of our specimens as crushed Material. – MPP-CHT.2/1, MPP-CHT.4/2, MPP-CHT.9/7, internal moulds prevents us from giving other measure- MPP-CHT.12/6, MPP-CHT.12/9, MPP-CHT.12/19, MPP-CHT. ments than Dmax = larger measurable diameter and U/D ra- 12/25, MPP-CHT.12/26, MPP-CHT.12/29, MPP-CHT.12/30, tio (umbilical dimension as a percentage of the diameter at MPP-CHT.12/32, MPP-CHT.14/10, MPP-CHT.15/13, MPP- the point of measurement). CHT.15/15, MPP-CHT.15/17. Unless otherwise mentioned, all specimens are deposited Description. – Middle-sized planulate ammonites (Dmax in the Frau/Bulot collection at the Musée Paléontologique <50 mm) that show rapid growth of the whorl height de Provence (MPP) of Aix-Marseille University (Saint- throughout ontogeny. The whorl section is suboval with Charles), France. convex flanks. Moderately open (0.30 < U/D < 0.33) and relatively deep umbilicus with poorly marked umbilical Order Ammonoidea Zittel, 1884 wall. The ornamentation is mainly composed of fine and dense bifurcate ribs. The bifurcation occurs at, or just above, Suborder Ammonitina Hyatt, 1889 the middle of the flank. On the inner whorls, the ribs are in- Superfamily Perisphinctoidea Steinmann, 1890 terrupted on the venter by a smooth ventral band. On the body chamber, the ribs cross the venter, and several speci- Family Ataxioceratidae Buckman, 1921 mens exhibit a more complicated rib pattern with low bifur- Subfamily Lithacoceratinae Zeiss, 1968 cations and irregular intercalatories (Fig. 3A). Remarks. – Our material matches well the type series il- Genus Paraulacosphinctes Schindewolf, 1925 lustrated by Tavera (1985), with special reference to the specimens of pl. 13: 2, 5. Type species: Ammonites senex Oppel in Zittel, 1868; by subse- P. senex differs from P. senoides in its larger adult size, quent designation of Sapunov (1979, p. 126). wider umbilicus and complete loss of ornamentation on the Remarks. – In its original conception, the genus Paraula later ontogenic stages. According to Cecca et al. (1989, p. cosphintes was based on perisphinctids with a ventral groove 59), there is no difference between the two species and the from the classical Tithonian localities around Stramberg (= loss of the ornamentation in P. senex would be an adult char- Štramberk, Czech Republic). Tavera (1985) considerably ex- acter not seen in P. senoides because that taxon is based on panded the definition of the genus by the introduction of twelve incomplete specimens. This view is not supported by our new typological species and of four allied genera (Zittelia Ta- material, which does not show any fading of the ornamenta- vera, 1985, Neoperisphinctes Tavera, 1985, Moravisphinctes tion on the adult body chamber. It should be noted also that Tavera, 1985