Emsian in the context of "Ammonite"

Ammonoids are extinct, (typically) coiled-shelled cephalopods comprising the subclass Ammonoidea. They are more closely related to living octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish (which comprise the clade Coleoidea) than they are to nautiluses (family Nautilidae). The earliest ammonoids appeared during the Emsian stage of the Early Devonian (410.62 million years ago), with the last species vanishing during or soon after the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event (66 million years ago). They are often called ammonites, which is most frequently used for members of the order Ammonitida, the only remaining group of ammonoids from the Jurassic up until their extinction.

Ammonoids exhibited considerable diversity over their evolutionary history, with over 10,000 species having been described. Ammonoids are excellent index fossils, and they have been frequently used to link rock layers in which a particular species or genus is found to specific geologic time periods. Their fossil shells usually take the form of planispirals, although some helically spiraled and nonspiraled forms (known as heteromorphs) have been found, primarily during the Cretaceous period.

The Early Devonian is the first of three epochs comprising the Devonian period, corresponding to the Lower Devonian series. It lasted from 419.62 ± 1.36 to 393.47 ± 0.99 and began with the Lochkovian Stage 419.62 ± 1.36 to 413.02 ± 0.99, which was followed by the Pragian from 413.02 ± 1.36 to 410.62 ± 0.99 and then by the Emsian, which lasted until the Middle Devonian began, 393.47± 0.99 million years ago.During this time, the first ammonoids appeared, descending from bactritoid nautiloids. Ammonoids during this time period were simple and differed little from their nautiloid counterparts. These ammonoids belong to the order Agoniatitida, which in later epochs evolved to new ammonoid orders, for example Goniatitida and Clymeniida. This class of cephalopod molluscs would dominate the marine fauna until the beginning of the Mesozoic Era.

In the geological timescale, the Middle Devonian epoch (from 393.47 ± 0.99 million years ago to 382.31 ± 1.36 million years ago) occurred during the Devonian period, after the end of the Emsian age.

The Middle Devonian epoch is subdivided into two stages: Eifelian and Givetian.