Foordiceras ascetum Korn & Hairapetian, 2025, sp. nov.

Foordiceras ascetum sp. nov. urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: B448394B-F0E2-42D2-9EFA-FA09D8C8E1A7 Fig. 18; Table 12 Diagnosis Species of Foordiceras with thinly discoidal, subevolute conch (ww/dm ~ 0.33; uw/dm ~0.43), nearly equidimensional whorl profile (ww/wh ~1.00) and high coiling rate (WER ~ 2.20) at a conch diameter of 60 mm. Whorl profile trapezoidal with weakly divergent, flattened flanks; venter flattened, umbilical margin incipient. Sculpture with about 10 coarse, blunt ventrolateral ribs per volution. Suture line with a very shallow external lobe and a very shallow, broadly rounded lateral lobe. Etymology From the Greek ‘ἀσκητός’= ‘decorated’; because of the sculpture. Type material Holotype IRAN – Esfahan Province • Baghuk Mountain; Hambast Formation, Vedioceras beds (late Wuchiapingian); 2011; Korn et al. leg.; illustrated in Fig. 18; MB.C.32124. Description Holotype MB.C.32124 is an internal mould with a diameter of 86 mm, but the last portion is poorly preserved (Fig. 18B). The conch is, at 62 mm diameter, thinly discoidal and subevolute (ww/dm=0.33; uw/dm = 0.43) with a high coiling rate (WER = 2.21). The whorl profile is weakly compressed (ww/ wh = 0.98) and rounded trapezoidal with a nearly flat venter and a broadly rounded ventrolateral shoulder. The weakly divergent flanks are flattened; an umbilical margin is only barely visible (Fig. 18A). The sculpture has five prominent conical nodes per half volution in the outer area of the flank; these nodes show a low extension on the flank towards the umbilicus. The nodes are narrower than their interspaces. The suture line shows shallow, broadly rounded lobes on venter and flanks (Fig. 18C). The last half volution of the phragmocone has about 16 chambers (CLI=11). Remarks Foordiceras ascetum sp. nov. differs from F. eicosacanthum sp. nov. and F. decacanthum sp. nov. in the nearly equidimensional whorl profile (ww/wh =1.00), which is depressed in the other two species (ww/ wh= 1.75 in F. eicosacanthum and = 1.25 in F. decacanthum). Another criterion to separate F. ascetum from the rather similar F. decacanthum is in the width of the nodes; in F. ascetum they are only half as wide as their interspaces, while they are wider than the interspaces in F. decacanthum.