Biology:Mariella

Short description: Extinct genus of molluscs

Mariella Temporal range: Albian–Cenomanian PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N
Mariella lewesiensis fossil
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Cephalopoda
Subclass:	†Ammonoidea
Order:	†Ammonitida
Suborder:	†Ancyloceratina
Family:	†Turrilitidae
Genus:	†Mariella Nowak, 1916

Mariella is an ammonoid genus, named by Nowak (1916) from the upper Albian and Cenomanian stages of the mid Cretaceous, included in the Turrilitidae. Its type is Turrilites bergeri

Description

Mariella resembles Turrilites in general form. The shell is asymmetric, closely wound in a long expanding trochoidal spire. Ribs are slightly oblique and are rather feeble, each with 4 more or less equally spaced tubercles. Turrilites differs primarily in being more strongly ribbed and in having a more oval aperture.

Distribution

Fossils of Mariella have been found in Angola, Antarctica, Australia, Brazil, Canada (British Columbia), Colombia (Hiló Formation), France, Germany, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Madagascar, Mexico, Mozambique, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States (California, Texas, Oregon).

Further reading

• Arkell, W.J.; Kummel, B.; Wright, C.W. (1957). Mesozoic Ammonoidea. Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Part L, Mollusca 4. Lawrence, Kansas: Geological Society of America and University of Kansas Press. 

Wikidata ☰ Q6763154 entry