| Poterioceratidae Temporal range: LDevonian - L Carb (Miss) | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Cephalopoda |
| Subclass: | Nautiloidea |
| Order: | Oncocerida |
| Family: | Poterioceratidae Foord, 1888 |
| Genera | |
The Poterioceratidae is a family of nautiloid cephalopods included in the Oncocerida that lived during the period from the Early Devonian to the Early Carboniferous (Mississippian). Members of the Poterioceratidae are distinguished by a subcircular to compressed exogastric shell (curved upwardly so as the lower side, the venter, is convex viewed from the side) that has no hyponomic sinus and a central to subcentral siphuncle composed of subquadrate to nummuloidal segments in which the septal necks are more strongly curved on the upper, or dorsal side. This is opposite from the Karoceratidae in which siphuncle segments are inflated ventrally but straight dorsally. Some poterioceratid genera have actinosiphonate structures or annular deposits within the siphuncle. In others it is empty.
The Oncocerida comprise a diverse group of generally small nautiloid cephalopods known from the Middle Ordovician to the Mississippian, in which the connecting rings are thin and siphuncle segments are variably expanded. At present the order consists of some 16 families, a few of which, such as the Oncoceratidae, Brevicoceratidae, and Acleistoceratidae contain a fair number of genera each while others like the Trimeroceratidae and Archiacoceratidae are represented by only two or three.
The Devonian is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic, spanning 60 million years from the end of the Silurian, 419.2 million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, 358.9 Mya. It is named after Devon, England, where rocks from this period were first studied.
The Carboniferous is a geologic period and system that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period 358.9 million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, 298.9 Mya. The name Carboniferous means "coal-bearing" and derives from the Latin words carbō ("coal") and ferō, and was coined by geologists William Conybeare and William Phillips in 1822.</ref>
The origin of the Poterioceratidae is undetermined but may have their origin in some Silurian member of the Acleistoceratidae or perhaps even in some Ordovician oncoceratid through an unknown Silurian genus.
The Silurian is a geologic period and system spanning 24.6 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at 443.8 million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, 419.2 Mya. The Silurian is the shortest period of the Paleozoic Era. As with other geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period's start and end are well identified, but the exact dates are uncertain by several million years. The base of the Silurian is set at a series of major Ordovician–Silurian extinction events when up to 60% of marine genera were wiped out.
The Acleistoceratidae is a family of oncocerids that contains genera characterized by depressed exogastric brevicones and cyrtocones that range from the Middle Silurian to the Middle Devonian. The siphuncle is broadly expanded, and in some actinosiphonate.
The Ordovician is a geologic period and system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era. The Ordovician spans 41.2 million years from the end of the Cambrian Period 485.4 million years ago (Mya) to the start of the Silurian Period 443.8 Mya.
