Late Cretaceous Dimorphic Scaphitid Ammonoid Genus Yezoites from the Circum-North Pacific Regions

Abstract

Abstract. Yezoites is a Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian–Campanian) small to very small dimorphic ammonoid genus belonging to the Scaphitidae, whose microconchs have a pair of long lateral lappets at the aperture. Based on examination of previously described material including type and figured specimens and newly recovered ones, five species of Yezoites are described herein from the circum-North Pacific regions (Japan, Sakhalin, Kamchatka, Alaska, Oregon, and California); i.e., Y. perrini (Anderson), Y. seabeensis (Cobban and Gryc), and Y. puerculus (Jimbo) from the Turonian, and Y. pseudoaequalis (Yabe) and Y. matsumotoi (Tanabe) from the Coniacian. Of these species, both microconchs and macroconchs are recognized in Y. puerculus and Y. pseudoaequalis, whereas only microconchs are known in the other three species. These Yezoites species characteristically occur in very fine-grained sandstone to silty mudstone facies suggesting an intermediate between nearshore and offshore environments, and can be used supplementarily for biozonation and correlation of the Turonian and Coniacian deposits in the North Pacific regions.