Late Turonian-early Coniacian belemnites from western and central Europe

A little known fauna of late Turonian--early Coniacian belemnites from the Central European palaeobiogeographic Subprovince is revised and the following species are recognised: Actinocamax strehlensis (Fritsch & Schlonbach), A. bohemicus Stolley, A. paderbornensis Schliiter, and A. esseniensis n. sp. The taxonomic value of various characters within Late Cretaceous belemnites belonging to the family Belemnitellidae Pavlov is discussed, and it is concluded that the shape of the guard is a more significant taxonomic character than the presence of granules. The species from the subprovince are compared to coeval species from the Central Russian Subprovince and the North American Province. The palaeobiogeography and evolutionary trends of early Late Cretaceous belemnites are discussed.