Rediscovery of the holotypes of the Cenomanian (Upper Cretaceous) ammonites Vascoceras gamai Choffat, 1898, and Vascoceras barcoicense (Choffat, 1898)

•Holotypes of ammonites Vascoceras gamai and V. barcoicense are rediscovered.•These holotypes are from the upper Cenomanian of Portugal.•The significance of these specimens for systematics of Vascoceras is discussed.

The historical holotypes of the Cenomanian (Upper Cretaceous) ammonites Vascoceras gamai Choffat, 1898 (type of the genus), and Vascoceras barcoicense (Choffat, 1898), thought to be destroyed by the fire of March 1978 at the National Museum of Natural History, Lisbon, Portugal, have been rediscovered in good state of preservation. Based on the study of the originals, these upper Cenomanian specimens can be rehabilitated as holotypes, maintaining and justifying the status of both taxa as well as of Vascoceras cauvini Chudeau, 1909.