Paradnatoceras

Paradnatoceras
Temporal range: Ordovician
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Cephalopoda
Subclass:
Orthoceratoidea
Order:
Orthocerida
Genus:
Paradnatoceras

Paradnatoceras is an extinct straight-shelled cephalopod genus that lived in what would become China during the Ordovician from 478.6 to about 461 mya, existing for approximately 17.6 Ma.[1]

Taxonomy

Paradnatoceras is included in the Orthocerida according to Sepkoski (2002).[2] Inclusion of the Orthocerida in the subclass Orthoceratoidea is according to more recent taxonomic opinion.[3] In older taxonomies, e.g.,[4] the Orthocerida were included in the Nautiloidea.

Morphology

The shell is usually long, and may be straight ("orthoconic") or gently curved. In life, these animals may have been similar to the modern squid, except for the long shell.

Fossil distribution

Fossil distribution is exclusive to central and southern China.

References

  1. ^ PaleoBiology Database: Paradnatoceras, basic info
  2. ^ J. J. Sepkoski. 2002. A compendium of fossil marine animal genera. Bulletins of American Paleontology 363:1-560
  3. ^ Björn Kröger. A new genus of middle Tremadocian orthoceratoids and the Early Ordovician origin of orthoceratoid cephalopods. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 53 (4): 745–749, 2008 [1]
  4. ^ Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Part K, 1964; Teichert and Moore (eds)