Nipponites
{{Short description|Genus of molluscs (fossil)}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = {{fossil range|Turonian|Santonian|ref={{cite web | last = Sepkoski| first = Jack| title= Sepkoski's Online Genus Database|author-link =| year = 2002| url = http://strata.geology.wisc.edu/jack/showgenera.php?taxon=231&rank=class| accessdate = 2023-12-13 }}}}
| image = Nipponites.jpg
| image_caption = Fossils of Nipponites mirabilis from an exhibit at the National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo, Japan
| taxon = Nipponites
| authority = Yabe, 1904
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision =
- N. mirabilis Yabe, 1904 (type species)
- N. bacchus Matsumoto and Muramoto, 1967
- N. occidentalis Ward and Westermann, 1977
- N. sachalinensis Kawada, 1929
}}
Nipponites is an extinct genus of heteromorph ammonites. The shells of Nipponites (primarily N. mirabilis) form "ox-bow" bends, resulting in some of the most bizarre shapes seen among ammonites.
The ecology of Nipponites, as with many other nostoceratids, is subject to much speculation.
Distribution
Fossils of most species are found primarily in Upper Cretaceous strata of Japan. N. mirabilis is found in Coniacian-aged strata of Japan and possibly Turonian-aged strata in Madagascar.{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7uUdAQAAIAAJ | title=Geological Survey Current Research | author=Makhon ha-geʹologi (Israel) | publisher=Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Geological Survey of Israel | year=1981}} N. bacchus is found in Upper Cretaceous Hokkaido. Two species are found exclusively outside Japan, N. sachalinensis, which is found in Upper Cretaceous strata of Sakhalin island, and Kamchatka peninsula,Shigeta, Yasunari, and Haruyoshi Maeda. "Yezo Group research in Sakhalin—a historical review." National Science Museum Monographs 31 (2005): 1-24. and N. occidentalis, which is known from two shells found in the Turonian-aged Hornbrook Formation of Southern Oregon.Ward, Peter D., and Gerd EG Westermann. "First occurrence, systematics, and functional morphology of Nipponites (Cretaceous Lytoceratina) from the Americas." Journal of Paleontology (1977): 367-372.
In popular culture
A Japanese academic institution Paleontological Society of Japan (:ja:日本古生物学会) has Nipponites as its symbol. That organization established October 15 as "Fossil Day", according to the date of first description of N. mirabilis and "International Fossil Day" by International Palaeontological Association (not to confuse with National Fossil Day).{{Cite web |title=化石の日 |url=http://www.palaeo-soc-japan.jp/fossilday/ |access-date=2023-10-12 |website=古生物学会 |language=ja}}
Image gallery
File:Nipponites mirabilis1.jpg|N. mirabilis
File:Nipponites mirabilis & Ainoceras kamuy.jpg|N. mirabilis
File:Nipponites mirabilis 2.jpg|N. mirabilis
References
;Notes
{{Reflist}}
;Bibliography
- {{cite book| first1=W.J. |last1=Arkell |first2=B. |last2=Kummel |first3=C.W. |last3=Wright |series=Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Part L, Mollusca 4| title=Mesozoic Ammonoidea | publisher=Geological Society of America and University of Kansas Press |location=Lawrence, Kansas|year=1957}}
{{Commons category-inline}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1062429}}
Category:Prehistoric animals of Madagascar
Category:Turonian genus first appearances
Category:Coniacian genus extinctions
Category:Fossil taxa described in 1904
{{Ammonitida-stub}}