Tropaeum
Encyclopedia
Tropaeum is an extinct genus
of ammonite
cephalopod
found throughout the oceans of the world during the Early Cretaceous
. As with many other members of the family
Ancyloceratidae, there was a trend among species within this genus to uncoil somewhat, in a very similar manner in the genus Lytoceras. The largest species, T. imperator of Australia
, had a shell a little over one meter in diameter.
Not to be confused with Tropaion
(the Greek source of the Latin word Tropaeum).
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of ammonite
Ammonite
Ammonite, as a zoological or paleontological term, refers to any member of the Ammonoidea an extinct subclass within the Molluscan class Cephalopoda which are more closely related to living coleoids Ammonite, as a zoological or paleontological term, refers to any member of the Ammonoidea an extinct...
cephalopod
Cephalopod
A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan class Cephalopoda . These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral body symmetry, a prominent head, and a set of arms or tentacles modified from the primitive molluscan foot...
found throughout the oceans of the world during the Early Cretaceous
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...
. As with many other members of the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Ancyloceratidae, there was a trend among species within this genus to uncoil somewhat, in a very similar manner in the genus Lytoceras. The largest species, T. imperator of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, had a shell a little over one meter in diameter.
Not to be confused with Tropaion
Tropaion
A tropaion , whence English "trophy" is an ancient Greek and later Roman monument set up to commemorate a victory over one's foes. Typically this takes the shape of a tree, sometimes with a pair of arm-like branches upon which is hung the armour of a defeated and dead foe...
(the Greek source of the Latin word Tropaeum).
External links
- photograph of the holotypeHolotypeA holotype is a single physical example of an organism, known to have been used when the species was formally described. It is either the single such physical example or one of several such, but explicitly designated as the holotype...
of T. imperator http://piatnitskysaurus.deviantart.com/art/Australia-s-largest-Ammonite-48178609