Tithonian Stageuppermost of the three divisions of the Upper Jurassic Series, representing all those rocks deposited formed worldwide during the Tithonian Age (152 to 144 million years ago), which occurred between 150.8 million and 145.5 million years ago during the Jurassic Period. The Tithonian is the uppermost of 11 stages making up the Jurassic System. The Tithonian’s name Stage overlies the Kimmeridgian Stage and underlies the Berriasian, the lowest stage of the Cretaceous Period.

The name of this stage is derived not from a geographic source but


from the Greek mythological figure Tithonus, who was the consort of Eos (Aurora),


goddess of the dawn. Numerous ammonite biozones (shorter spans of time characterized by fossil mollusks) are recognized in the Tithonian. The ammonite biozones of Glochiceras lithographicum (which occurs low in the succession) and Pseudovigatites scruposus (occurring high in the succession) are used to correlate the Tithonian with more endemic forms in western Russia (where it is locally named the Volgian Stage) and in England (locally named the Purbeckian Stage). The Tithonian overlies the Kimmeridgian Stage and is itself overlain by the Berriasian Stage of the Cretaceous SystemThe Tithonian Stage has replaced the Volgian and Purbeckian Stages, which were previously locally recognized in Russia and England, respectively.

In Europe the Tithonian is divided into the Lower, Middle, and Upper Tithonian. Each of these intervals is further divided into numerous standard European ammonite biozones: the Lower Tithonian includes the Hybonotum and Darwini zones; the Middle Tithonian includes the Semiforme, Fallauxi, and Ponti zones; and the Upper Tithonian includes the Micracanthum and Durangites zones.

In other parts of the world, Mexico is one of the few regions where an extensive, detailed ammonite stratigraphic zonation has been developed. Elsewhere only a few zones have been recognized, and in some areas the exact timing and correlations of these zones have not been finalized. As with the other Upper Jurassic stages, the lack of well-developed global correlations is due to patchy distribution of ammonites and tightly constrained geographic distributions for individual species.