Discosorida are an order of cephalopods that lived from the beginning of the Middle Ordovician, through the Silurian, and into the Devonian. Discosorids are unique in the structure and formation of the siphuncle, the tube that runs through and connects the camerae (chambers) in cephalopods, which unlike those in other orders is zoned longitudinally along the segments rather than laterally. Siphuncle structure indicated that the Discosorida evolved directly from the Plectronoceratida rather than through the more developed Ellesmerocerida, as did the other orders. Finally and most diagnostic, discosorids developed a reinforcing, grommet-like structure in the septal opening of the siphuncle known as the bullette, formed by a thickening of the connecting ring as it draped around the folded back septal neck.
Discoceras is an extinct marine cephalopod mollusk, a member of the Trocholitidae in the Tarphycerida. It is distinct from Discosorus, It is characterized by closely coiled, gradually expanding shells with a subquadrate cross section, that may be ribbed or smooth. The sides are broadly rounded; the venter is wide and slightly rounded. The maximum width is slightly dorsal of the middle. The dorsum has a slight to moderate impression. The siphuncle starts off central for the first half whorl then becomes marginodorsal in the succeeding two whorls, then subdorsal at maturity. As with Trocholites, the dorsal siphuncle in Discoceras probably indicates an orientation during life that places the back of the living chamber high in the shell.
Slender Oncoceratidae are those in the family Oncoceratidae, which have slender, commonly curved, shells. Some like Oocerina are gently curved, almost straight, and with only slight expansion. Others like Dunleithoceras are strongly curved with a more notable rate of expansion. Inclusion in this somewhat arbitrary category is based on illustrations in the Treatise Part K, 1964.
The Reudemannoceratidae are the ancestral and most primitive of the Discosorida, an order of cephalopods from the early Paleozoic. The Reudemannoceratidae produced generally medium-sized endogastric and almost straight shells with the siphuncle slightly ventral from the center.
The Lowoceratidae is a small family of discosorids, early nautiloid cephalopods, from the Middle Silurian in which the characteristic bullette is found only in early growth stages. Lowoceratids were first found in Southampton Island in the Canadian arctic.
The Trocholitidae are Tarphycerida with whorls in close contact as with the Tarphyceratidae, but in which the siphuncle, similar in structure, becomes dorsal. The Trocholitidae are derived from the Tarphyceratidae, perhaps from different tarphyceratids.
Kionoceras is an extinct nautiloid cephalopod genus included in the orthocerid family Kionoceratidae with scattered worldwide distribution from the Middle Ordovician to the Lower Permian. Kionoceratids are orthocerids with prominent longitudinal ornamentation on their shells, sometimes augmented by secondary transverse ornamentation. Orthocerids are, of course, prehistoric nautiloides with generally straight and elongate shells, mostly with central or subcentral siphuncles.
Ulrichoceras is recognised as the basal cyrtogomphoceratid genus, which is the source for the rest of the Cyrtogomphoceratidae as well as for the Westonoceratidae. The Cyrtogomphoceratidae are endogastric, the Westonoceratidae, exogastric.
Oncoceratidae is a family of nauatiloid cephalopods in the order Oncocerida established by Hyatt, 1884, that range from the Middle Ordovician to the Upper Silurian.
The Phragmoceratidae is a family of extinct nautiloid cephalopods from the Order Discosorida that lived during the latter part of the Silurian.
The Actinoceriatidae are a family of actinocerids named by Saemann in 1853 for those that grew to have large shells with blunt apices and large siphuncles with widely expanded segments and a generally arcuate endosiphucular canal system. Their range is from the upper Middle Ordovician to the Lower Silurian. Actinocerids are generally straight-shelled nautiloid cephalopods with a siphuncle composed of expanded segments, typically with thin connecting rings, in which the internal deposits are penetrated by a system of canals
Mandaloceratidae is a family in the nautiloid cephalopod order Discosorida, from the Middle and Upper(?) Silurian characterized by short, essentially straight shells referred to as breviconic, typically with a faintly exogastric shape produced by the profile of the body chamber.
The Cyrtogomphoceratidae are a family in the cephalopod order Discosorida that comprises genera commonly with compressed, endogastrically curved shells. Siphuncles lie close to the ventral side, segments are broadly inflated, connecting rings thick and apically expanded thick bullettes. Chambers are short, separated by shallow, dish shaped septa. Apertures are generally simple.
Westonoceratidae are exogastric, mostly compressed, Discosorida of moderate size from the Middle Ordovician to the Lower Silurian.
Reedsoceras is a genus of large discosorids (Nautiloidea) in the family Westonoceratidae from the middle and upper Ordovician of North America.
Simardoceras is a genus in the discosorid family Westonoceratidae from the Middle Ordovician of Quebec.
Cyrtogomphoceras is a genus of nautiloid cephalopods, recognized by its large breviconic shell with a notable endogastric curvature. The shell is fusiform in profile, reaching maximum width at or near the base of body chamber, which narrows toward the aperture. The siphuncle is large and slightly removed from the ventral side, that with the concave longitudinal profile. Siphuncle segments are short, as are chambers; septal necks recurved, connecting rings thick, bullettes at the apical end of the rings swollen. Cameral deposits are lacking.
Konglungenoceras is a discorid from the lower Silurian of Europe (Norway) included in the Cyrtogomphoceratidae that lacks the septal foramina grasping bullettes at the adapical end of the connecting rings. shells are endogastric and strongly compressed, such that the ventral or siphuncle side is curved inward and the dorso-ventral height is greater than the width. Endosiphuncular deposits in the apical portion of the siphuncle consist of thick overlapping parietal laminae that form endocones, similar to those is Discosorus and Alpenoceras.
Discosoridae comprise a family of endogastric discosorids,, with endocones in the siphuncle, ranging from the Middle Silurian to Middle Devonian.
Kayoceras is a genus of middle Silurian nautiloid cephalopods, known from Iowa and Illinois, belonging to the Discosoridae. Related genera include Discosorus, Endodiscosorus, and Stokesoceras. Kayoceras has a short, breviconic shell, like Discosorus, but with a more central siphuncle. Derivation is probably from Discosorus, through an evolutionary shifting of the siphuncle position, which has its origin in the Lowoceratidae, possibly through Tuyloceras.
