Nectocotis

Nectocotis Temporal range: Katian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Type specimen (from Smith, 2019 [1] )
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Family:	† Nectocarididae (?)
Genus:	† Nectocotis Smith, 2020
Species:	†N. rusmithi
Binomial name
†Nectocotis rusmithi Smith, 2020

Nectocotis rusmithi is a genus of Ordovician animal with uncertain affinity, found in the Whetstone Gulf Formation, New York State. It was originally described as a nectocaridid, differing from Nectocaris in the possession of an internal skeletal element, and this character was taken as evidence that this group is a stem group cephalopod. ^[2] However, study in 2025, which considered nectocaridids as stem chaetognaths, did not include this taxon to nectocarididae due to lack of diagnostic features. ^[3]

References

1. Smith, M. R. (2019). "High resolution photographs of Nectocotis rusmithi". Figshare (Data Set). doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.c.3953191.
2. Smith, Martin R. (2020). "An Ordovician nectocaridid hints at an endocochleate origin of Cephalopoda" (PDF). Journal of Paleontology. 94 (1): 64–69. Bibcode:2020JPal...94...64S. doi:10.1017/jpa.2019.57. S2CID   201208912.
3. Vinther, Jakob; Parry, Luke A.; Lee, Mirinae; Nielsen, Morten Lunde; Oh, Yeongju; Park, Changkun; Kihm, Ji-Hoon; DeVivo, Giacinto; Harper, David A. T.; Nielsen, Arne T.; Park, Tae-Yoon S. (23 July 2025). "A fossilized ventral ganglion reveals a chaetognath affinity for Cambrian nectocaridids". Science Advances. 11 (30) eadu6990. doi:10.1126/sciadv.adu6990. PMC   12285702 .