The Upper Jurassic ammonite Virgatopavlovia from NE Scotland: implications for palaeogeography and phylogeny

Abstract

The upper part of the Helmsdale Boulder Beds Formation at Helmsdale, NE Scotland has yielded ammonites belonging to the genus Virgatopavlovia Cope, 1978. This genus is restricted to the youngest Bolonian Fittoni Zone that has hitherto not been recorded on the basis of its ammonite fauna outside of south Dorset. Palaeogeographical reconstructions suggest that these ammonites must have migrated (either northwards or southwards) through a narrow strait of probably shallow water in the English Midlands, although no record of the genus exists in that area. The Greenland ammonite genus Epipallasiceras Spath 1936 may be derived from Virgatopavlovia.