Bilinguites – a cosmopolitan Late Carboniferous ammonoid genus

Abstract The Bashkirian (Late Carboniferous) ammonoid genus Bilinguites has a nearly global distribution in the tropical and subtropical zones and 25 species have been described up till now. Most of them are considered endemic, but some may have a wide geographic distribution. Our study on new and previously collected materials from North China (Gansu and Ningxia) shows that the stratigraphically youngest species of Bilinguites in North China and Western Europe are morphologically very similar, possibly indicating correspondence of the ammonoid faunas. Bilinguites scalpratus is revised and established as a stratigraphically important species of the genus in North China; it co-occurs with the first gastrioceratid species Cancelloceras pachygyrum. This occurrence can be correlated with the Western European co-occurrence of Cancelloceras cancellatum and Bilinguites superbilinguis at the base of the G1 Zone.