First record of Epicymatoceras vaelsense (Nautilida) from the Maastrichtian white chalk of northern Denmark

The atypical Late Cretaceous nautilid Epicymatoceras vaelsense (Binkhorst van den Binkhorst, 1862) is described and illustrated on the basis of three specimens from the Maastrichtian white chalk of Denmark. One of these is probably from the lower/upper Maastrichtian boundary interval at Frejlev, while the other two originate from the uppermost Maastrichtian chalk as exposed in the Dania quarry; both localities are in Jylland, northern Denmark. These are first reports of E. vaelsense from Denmark; the species has previously been recorded from the uppermost Campanian and lower Maastrichtian of the Netherlands, Belgium, northern Germany and Poland. The presence of E. vaelsense in the topmost Maastrichtian white chalk in the Dania quarry is considered the youngest record of Epicymatoceras known to date, suggesting the persistence of the genus until the end of the Cretaceous. The diameter of the embryonic conch of the Danish E. vaelsense may be estimated at c. 30 mm, based on an individual from the Dania quarry, confirming earlier observations that the species possessed one of the largest embryonic conchs amongst Late Cretaceous nautilids.