The Trachyceratidae is an extinct family of ceratitid ammonoid cephalopods. The Trachyceratidae makes up part of the superfamily Trachyceratoidea along with such families as the Buchitidae, Distichitidae, Dronovitidae and Noridiscitidae. The Trachyceratoidea is also known by the junior synonym Trachycerataceae.

Fossil record

Fossils of Trachyceratidae are found in marine strata from the Devonian to the Triassic. Fossils are known from many localities in Afghanistan, Canada, China, Europe (Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine), India, Japan, the Russian Federation, Thailand, and the United States.

Description

Trachyceratid shells are more or less involute and highly ornamented. They have their whorl sides covered with flexuous ribs that are usually tuberculate. The venters generally have a median furrow bordered by rows of tubercles or continuous keels.

Classification

Trachyceratidae

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