Fossil
Belemnites
Belemnite
Belemnites are the extinct squid-like cephalopods whose solid calcite guards ('thunderbolts') are among the most common Jurassic and Cretaceous fossils on British beaches and in the Holzmaden shale. Guards are cheap; specimens with the phragmocone, ink sac or soft-part outlines from Holzmaden or Christian Malford are rare and valuable. The name Belemnites is used loosely for many genera (Passaloteuthis, Cylindroteuthis, Hibolithes).
| Phylum | Mollusca |
|---|---|
| Class | Cephalopoda |
| Order | Belemnitida |
| Group | Fossil |
| Rank (PBDB) | order· Paleobiology Database |
| Author | Haeckel 1866· Paleobiology Database |
| Common name (PBDB) | belemnite· Paleobiology Database |
| Classification (PBDB) | Mollusca › Cephalopoda › Belemnitida· Paleobiology Database |
| Range (PBDB) | 335–33.9 Ma· Paleobiology Database |
| PBDB occurrences | 2108· Paleobiology Database |
Photographs
Elsewhere
- GBIF: 4621636
- PBDB: 15832
- Wikidata: Q2894293
- PBDB taxon page
- Wikipedia: Belemnites
- PBDB search: Belemnites
Cite this article
Stratum Strata. "Belemnites" (Taxon). Stratum Strata pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21. https://stratum.black/strata/taxa/belemnites. Accessed 2026-09-21.
@misc{stratum-belemnites,
title = {Belemnites},
author = {{Stratum Strata}},
howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/strata/taxa/belemnites}},
year = {2026},
note = {Taxon article, Stratum Strata pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21; sources: stratum, pbdb, wikidata, commons, nhm. Accessed 2026-09-21.}
} Citations carry the pack version and the article's as-of date so they resolve to the same text later. The facts themselves belong to the sources listed below; cite those for the science.