Sonniniidae Ammonitina, Middle Jurassic from Southern Spain: taxonomic, biostratigraphical and palaeobiogeographical analysis
Author
Sandoval, José
text
Geodiversitas
2022
2022-09-15
44
27
801
851
journal article
10.5252/geodiversitas2022v44a27
1638-9395
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:E4896081-9312-4EA6-AE33-AAC44201748E
Subfamily
SONINNIINAE Buckman, 1892
DESCRIPTION
Serpenticone, platycone to oxycone macroconchs, sometimes reaching large sizes, microconchs being much smaller. Whorl sections vary from subrectangular, subtriangular, oval to ogival, and the venter has a more or less developed hollow keel persisting to the BC. Ornamentation varies widely from smooth forms, to others with strongly ribbed or ribbed and tuberculate. The innermost whorls can be smooth, whereas later inner whorls have ribs. Many forms have well-developed tubercles or spines. The degree to which the spinose/tuberculate stage persists is highly variable and specimens rarely retain strong ribbing beyond the end of the
PH
, whereas in others the ornamentation is reduced to the inner whorls and from an early stage are striated or smooth. Complete macroconchs [M] have simple peristomes with plain mouth borders. In microconchs [m], the aperture morphology is variable, but usually they have expanded lateral lappets. Like the corresponding macroconchs, microconchs can have nontuberculate, tuberculate, and even spiny internal whorls. The septal suture is relatively complex, with a ramified deep L, and slightly retracted U
2
-U
5
lobes.
REMARKS
As mentioned above,
Asthenoceras
,
Fontannesia
,
Newmarracarroceras
, and
Dorsetensia
,
all included within
Sonniniinae
in the new version of the
Treatise
(
Howarth 2013
), should be separated from this subfamily and transferred to
Grammoceratinae
(the first three) and
Witchelliinae
(the last). The more common dimorphism of
Sonniniinae
appears to belong to the aforementioned
type
1, i.e. large, “classical” macroconchs associated with relatively small macroconchs (mesoconchs according to
Chandler 2019
) with plain mouth borders and without lateral lappets. Coexisting with
Sonninia
[M] and
Sonninites
[M], microconchiate forms also occur with welldeveloped lateral lappets (aforementioned dimorphism
type
2, possibly representing their dimorphic partners. In this case, the
two types
of dimorphism would be clearly represented in this subfamily.
DISTRIBUTION
Sonniniinae
range throughout the Upper Aalenian (Concavum Zone)-Lower Bajocian (Humphriesianum Zone) interval, with a worldwide distribution, except in the Boreal Realm. In the Subbetic domain, they have this stratigraphic range, and occur in the External, Median, and Internal subdomains, being most abundant in the central sector of the Median Subbetic, the origin of most of the specimens studied here.