What is Goniatite?
{{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = {{fossil range|390|251.4}}[[Middle Devonian]] – [[Late Permian]] | image = Fossile J 2.jpg | image_caption = A polished Goniatite [[fossil]] | taxon = Goniatitida | authority = [[Alpheus Hyatt|Hyatt]], 1884 | subdivision_ranks = Suborders | subdivision = * [[Goniatitina]] * [[Tornoceratina]] }} '''Goniatites''' are a type of [[ammonite]]. They are [[cephalopods]] from the Order Goniatitida. They evolved from earlier forms in the Middle [[Devonian]] some 390 million years ago.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.britannica.com/science/Devonian-Period|title=Devonian Period {{!}} geochronology|work=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=2017-11-14|language=en}}</ref> All goniatites had an external shell like other ammonites. It was divided internally into chambers filled with gas, giving it [[buoyancy]]. An open chamber at the front of the shell was where the animal lived. It drew in and expelled water through a ventral spout called a [[siphuncle]]. They had a head with two well developed eyes, and arms (or [[tentacles]]). They were free-swimming. Almost any fossil-bearing [[limestone]] or [[shale]] from [[inland sea]]s of the late [[Paleozoic]] [[tropics]] or [[subtropics]] is likely to contain some goniatites.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.britannica.com/animal/ammonoid|title=ammonoid {{!}} fossil cephalopod|work=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=2017-11-14|language=en}}</ref> == References == {{reflist}} {{wikispecies|Goniatitida}} [[Category:Paleontology]] [[Category:Cephalopods]] {{biology-stub}}