Perisphinctes

Perisphinctes Temporal range: Callovian–Tithonian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Exhibit from the Museum of Natural History in Berlin
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Cephalopoda
Subclass:	†Ammonoidea
Order:	†Ammonitida
Family:	†Perisphinctidae
Subfamily:	†Perisphinctinae
Genus:	†Perisphinctes Waagen, 1869
Type species
Ammonites variocostatus Buckland, 1836
Species
P. abadiensis P. arussiorum P. birmensdorfensis P. choffati P. gallarum P. hillebrandti P. jubailensis P. parandieri P. picteti P. roubyanus P. stenocyclus P. variocostatus

Perisphinctes is an extinct genus of ammonite cephalopod. They lived during the Middle to Late Jurassic epochs and serve as an index fossil for that time period. The species P. boweni was named after the English chemist and geologist E. J. Bowen (1898–1980).

Etymology

The genus name Perisphinctes is derived from the greek prefix peri- (περί), meaning "around," and sphinctes (from σφίγγω, sphingō, "to bind tightly"), referring to the tightly coiled ammonite shell.

Distribution

Cephalopods of species belonging to this genus have been found in the Jurassic of Antarctica, Argentina, Chile, Cuba, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Iran, Italy, Japan, Madagascar, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Yemen.

Gallery

• 
  Perisphinctes virguloides
• 
  Perisphinctes choffati
• 
  Perisphinctes plicatilis
• 
  Perisphingtes oxfordien

References