Trigonoceratidae

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Trigonoceratidae
Temporal range: L Carb (Miss) - L Perm
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Cephalopoda
Subclass: Nautiloidea
Order: Nautilida
Superfamily: Trigonoceratoidea
Family: Trigonoceratidae
Hyatt, 1884
Genera

See text

The Trigonoceratidae is a family of coiled nautiloid cephalopods that lived during the period from the Early Carboniferous (Mississippian) to the Early Permian.

Contents

Diagnosis

Trigonoceratidae comprise members of the order Nautilida characterized by a loosely coiled to evolute shell generally bearing longitudinal ribs or ridges with a whorl section that is oval to subquadrate and varying from compressed (squeezed) to depressed (flattened). (Kummel 1964)

Classification & phylogeny

Taxonomic position

The Trigonoceratidae along with four other related families are combined in the Superfamily Trigonocerataceae in the Treatise,(ibid Kummel) a superfamily. They are also the Triboloceratidae (Flower and Kummel,1950) which form the Tribolocerataceae within the Centroceratina of the Osnovy according to Shimansky. The Trigonocerataceae and Centroceratina are essentially equivalent as are the Trigonoceratidae and Triboloceratidae.

Derivation

The Trigonerceratidae were derived from the core Centroceratidae (basis for the name Centroceratina) early in the Mississippian along with the longer lived Grypoceratidae. Of the five families of the Trigonocerataceae, the Trigonoceratidae was defined first, by Hyatt in 1884, hence the choice of name.

Generic composition

Seventeen trigonoceratid genera are listed in the Treatise. All but one are found in the Lower Carboniferous of Europe and equivalent Mississippian of North America.(ibid Kummel)

Geographic Distribution

Mississippian Genera from North America alone

Mississippian Genera from North America and Europe ( L Carb)

Mississippian (L Carb) Genera from Europe

Lower Permian Central Asia

Morphological variations

Trigonoceras, type genus, named by Hyatt, 1844, is unique among the Trigonoceratidae in the Treatise. It is the only genus included that has a subtriangular whorl section consisting of a broad concave venter and narrow dorsum. The remaining can be divided on the basis of shell morphology into those that are smooth, at least on the outer whorl, those with numerous equal longitudinal ribs or lirae, and those with prominent longitudinal ridges separated by wide grooves or sulci.(ibid Kummel)

Those with smooth whorls include Leuroceras and Mesochasmoceras; those with numerous longitudinal ribs or lirie include Chouteauoceras, Discitoceras, and Rineceras; and those with prominent, wide spaced, longitudinal ridges are such as Stroboceras and Vestinautilus.

Trigonoceratid genera can also be grouped on the basis of the suture which may be essentially straight and transverse or slightly sinuous, or may have a well defined ventral lobe, or a ventral saddle. Those with straight or slightly sinuous sutures are Apogonoceras, Diodoroceras, Discitocdras, Rineceras, Stroboceras, and Thrincoceras; with a discernible ventral lobe: Aphelaeceras, Epistroboceras, Lispoceras, Maccoyoceras, Pararineceras, Subclymenia, and Vestinutilus; and with a ventral saddle: Chouteauoceras and Leuroceras.

Ventral saddles are also found in the Centroceratidae in Carlloceras and Phacoceras , in the Grypoceratidae in Stenopoceras and Parastenopoceras , and in the Syringonautilidae.(ibid Kummel)

Related Research Articles

Nautilida Order of cephalopods

The Nautilida constitute a large and diverse order of generally coiled nautiloid cephalopods that began in the mid Paleozoic and continues to the present with a single family, the Nautilidae which includes two genera, Nautilus and Allonautilus, with six species. All told, between 22 and 34 families and 165 to 184 genera have been recognised, making this the largest order of the subclass Nautiloidea.

Oncocerida order of molluscs

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.

<i>Cooperoceras</i> genus of molluscs

Cooperoceras is a genus of Tainoceratid nautiloid cephalopod molluscs within the superfamily Tainocerataceae, characterized by and evolute shell with an open, perforate, umbilicus, sinuous ribs at maturity, and recurved hollow spines along the ventro-lateral shoulders. The flanks and venter are flattened, the flanks converge on the dorsum, the venter has a shallow median groove. The suture is with rounded ventral and lateral lobes. The siphuncle is small, tubular, and subcentral.

Sholakoceras is an extinct genus of nautiloid cephalopods from the Lower Permian of southern Russia, included in the Tainoceratacean family Rhiphaeoceratidae,(order Nautilida). The shell of Shalakoceras is evolute with a perforate umbilicus. Whorl sections are subquadrate with the ventral and lateral sides flattened and ventral and umbilical shoulders rounded. Lateral areas bear short, slightly oblique ribs. sutures form broad ventral saddles with a slight, shallow lobe, very shallow lateral lobes, and a deep funnel-shaped dorsal lobe.

Permoceras, the sole member of the family Permoceratidae, is a genus of coiled nautiloids with a smooth, compressed involute shell, whorls higher than wide, earlier whorls hidden from view. The venter is rounded as are the ventral and umbilical shoulders, the flanks flattened. The siphuncle is ventrally subcentral. The suture, which is most characteristic, has a deep, narrow pointed ventral lobe and large, asymmetrical pointed lobes on either side.

Hexagonites is an extinct genus from the nautiloid order, Nautilida which includes the genus Nautilus found living in the tropical western Pacific. Hexagonites is included in the family Tainoceratidae, part of the superfamily Tainocerataceae

Endolobus is an extinct genus from the nautiloid order, Nautilida. Nautiloids are a subclass of shelled cephalopods that were once diverse and numerous but are now represented by only a handful of species, including Nautilus. Endolubus is included in the family Koninckioceratidae which is part of the superfamily Taintocerataceae.

Titanoceras is an extinct genus in the nautiloid order Nautilida from the Pennsylvanian and Lower Permian of North America and Western Australia.

Stearoceras is an extinct genus of prehistoric nautiloids from the Lower Pennsylvanian - Lower Permian with a fair worldwide distribution.(Kümmel 1964)

Triboloceras is the name given to an extinct nautiloid genus from the Lower Carboniferous (Mississippian), included in the nautilid family Trigonoceratidae characterized by an evolute shell bearing longitudinal ribs, with whorls in contact except in the early and very latest growth stages. Chambers are short, sutures tend for form ventral and in some cases dorsal and lateral lobes. The siphuncle is small, tubular, and subcentral.

The Clydonautiloidea are a superfamily within the nautiloid order Nautilida characterized by smooth, generally globular, shells with nearly straight sutures, in early forms, but developing highly differentiated sutures in some later forms. Where known, the siphuncle tends to be central to subcentral.

Trigonoceratoidea superfamily of molluscs

The Trigonoceratoidea are a superfamily within the Nautilida that ranged from the Devonian to the Triassic, thought to have contained the source for the Nautilaceae in which Nautilus is found.

Syringonautilidae is a family of Nautiloidea from the middle to late Triassic. Syringonautilidae comprise the last of the Trigonoceratoidea and are the source for the Nautilaceae which continued the Nautiloidea through the Mesozoic and into the Cenozoic right down to the recent. Syringonautilidae is a strictly Triassic family, derived early in the Triassic from the Grypoceratidae.

Grypoceratidae family of molluscs

Grypoceratidae is the longest-lived family of the Trigonoceratoidea, or of the near equivalent Centroceratina; members of the Nautilida from the Upper Paleozoic and Triassic.

The Centroceratidae is the ancestral family of the Trigonoceratoidea and of the equivalent Centroceratina; extinct shelled cephalopods belonging to the order Nautilida

Rineceras is an extinct genus from the nautilid family Trigonoceratidae which is part of the Trigonocerataceae, that lived during the Mississippian Period in the late Paleozoic.

<i>Metacoceras</i> genus of molluscs

Metacoceras is a nautilitoid cephalopod from the Upper Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) and Permian, the shell of which is moderately evolute with a subquadrate whorl section, bearing nodes on the ventral or umbilical shoulders or both, but otherwise smooth. The siphuncle is small, subcentral and orthochoanitic. The suture has shallow ventral and lateral lobes but no dorsal or annular lobe.

The Rhiphaeoceratidae are a small family of nautilids included in the superfamily Tainocerataceae that comprises four very similar genera. These genera are characterized by a perforate umbilicus and little more than a single evolute coil. Whorl sections are oval, subquadrate, or subtrapezoidal. Sutures bend forward on the outer rim, forming wide shallow ventral saddles and dip strongly to the rear on the inner rim, forming deep dorsal lobes.

Procymatoceras is a nautiloid cephalopod from the Middle Jurassic with a large, tightly involute, rapidly expanding shell. Early, inner, whorls are round in cross section. Later, outer, whorls, and mature living chamber are flattened on the sides and venter. Surface covered with sinuous ribs. Sutures have shallow ventral and dorsal lobes. Probably gave rise to Cymatonautilus and is the likely ancestor of Cymatoceras and Paracymatoceras. Procymatoceras has its origin in the earliest Nautilidae, in Cenoceras.

Grypoceras is a coiled nautiloid cephalopod from the Triassic of western North America, southern Asia, and Europe that belongs to the nautilid family Grypoceratidae. Named by Alpheus Hyatt in 1883, the shell of Grypoceras is essentially involute with a subtriangular cross section, widest across the umbilical shoulders, with flanks fairing toward a narrow flattened venter. Sutures on flanks are with smooth, deep lobes and with shallow ventral lobes.

References

Further reading

  • Flower, R.H and Kummel, B. 1950; A Classification of the Naulioidea; Journal of Paleontology, V 24, no 5. pp604-616, Sept 1950
  • Flower, R.H. 1988; Progress and Changing Concepts in Cephalopod and Particularly Nautiloid Phylogeny and Distribution, in Cephalopods, Present and Past, pp 17-24, Wiedmann, J, & Kullmann, J (Eds).