Nearly circular,oval and irregular holes in Cretaceous ammonoids from Nigeria

Nearly circular‐, oval‐ and irregular‐shaped holes are present in a collection of Late Cretaceous ammonoid cephalopods from southern Nigeria. Two competing hypotheses have been advanced to explain these holes: one is they were produced by diagenetic crushing of limpet home scars and the other is that they are predator's teeth marks. The latter explanation appears to be the best explanation for some of the damage seen in the Nigerian specimens. The suspected predator for some of the specimens was probably an unidentified reptile based on the diameters of the holes. Insofar as we are aware, this is the first recorded predatory damage reported on Cretaceous ammonoids from West‐Central Africa.