Cosmopolitan Status for Taramelliceras kachhense (Waagen) (Ammonoidea) from Kutch, Western India

Individual organisms within extant species, including cephalopods, vary morphologically (size, shape and colour), physiologically, behaviourally and demographically. This was no different for the extinct ammonoids, which are well known for intra-specific variation in conch shape, ornamentation, ontogeny as well as the morphology of the suture line. The ammonoides, like other molluscs, sometimes exhibit wide morphological intra-specific variation of their shells. Although this phenomenon is of greatest importance, it has rarely been investigated and quantified in large samples. The present work thrives on revisiting the taxonomyTaxonomy of the genus Taramelliceras del Campana from Kutch, western India. For that purpose, morphometric analysisMorphometric analysis has been performed using multivariate data available from the present collection as well as the earlier topotypes. A comparison has been made with the European types to understand the palaeobiogeography of the present species Taramelliceras kachhense (Waggen).