Article: Belemnites from the Coniacian to Lower Campanian chalks of Norfolk and southern England

Coniacian to Lower Campanian belemnite faunas from the chalks of Norfolk and southern England are described, using univariate and bivariate biometric analyses. The faunas include 13 species, subspecies and groups, referred to the following genera: Actinocamax Miller, Gonioteuthis Bayle, Belemnellocamax Naidin, and Belemnitella d'Orbigny. Two taxa, 'Actinocamax' lundgreni Stolley and Belemnitella p. propinqua (Moberg) of the Belemnitella lineage, are new for England. The nominate subspecies of Actinocamax verus Miller and two other subspecies are discussed. Samples of Gonioteuthis Bayle are compared with samples of Gonioteuthis from NW Germany, Belgium and France, the biostratigraphy of which are well-known. The British specimens of Belemnellocamax ex gr. grossouvrei (Janet) are listed and reviewed. The concept of B. praecursor Stolley is discussed, as well as its relationship to the coeval B. alpha Naidin and to B. mucronata (Schlotheim) from the uppermost Lower Campanian and Upper Campanian. The localities are placed in the international stratigraphic framework on the basis of their belemnite faunas as well as other evidence. The traditional zonation of the Coniacian to Lower Campanian of the British Isles is tentatively correlated with the zonation of NW Germany. The German Gonioteuthis zonation of the upper Coniacian to Lower Campanian is critically assessed. The palaeobiogeography of the Upper Cretaceous belemnites of the North European Province is outlined, and the English Coniacian to Lower Campanian belemnite faunas are commented upon with respect to this framework.