Hyoliths are animals with small conical shells, known as fossils from the Palaeozoic era. They are at least considered as lophotrochozoan, and possibly being lophophorates, a group which includes the brachiopods, while others consider them as being basal lophotrochozoans, or even molluscs.
Monoplacophora, meaning "bearing one plate", is a polyphyletic superclass of molluscs with a cap-like shell, inhabiting deep sea environments. Extant representatives were not recognized as such until 1952; previously they were known only from the fossil record, and were thought to have become extinct 375 million years ago.
The evolution of the molluscs is the way in which the Mollusca, one of the largest groups of invertebrate animals, evolved. This phylum includes gastropods, bivalves, scaphopods, cephalopods, and several other groups. The fossil record of mollusks is relatively complete, and they are well represented in most fossil-bearing marine strata. Very early organisms which have dubiously been compared to molluscs include Kimberella and Odontogriphus.
Latouchella is an extinct genus of marine invertebrate animal, that is considered to be a mollusk and which may be a sea snail, a gastropod. It is a helcionellid from the Tommotian epoch of what is now Siberia. Its tightly coiled, spiral shell contains a number of low "walls" running up the front surface of the interior; these would have directed water currents within its shell. Between these walls are a series of furrows, parallel to the shell's aperture, giving casts of the internal structure the appearance of a railway line, with sleepers tying together paired rails that run towards the apex of the shell.
Helcionellid or Helcionelliformes is an order of small fossil shells that are universally interpreted as molluscs, though no sources spell out why this taxonomic interpretation is preferred. These animals are first found about 540 to 530 million years ago in the late Nemakit-Daldynian age, which is the earliest part of the Cambrian period. A single species persisted to the Early Ordovician. These fossils are component of the small shelly fossils (SSF) assemblages.
Helcionelloida is an extinct group of ancient molluscs. These are the oldest known conchiferan molluscs, that is, they had a mineralised shell. Some members of this class were mistaken for Monoplacophorans. The class was erected by Peel in 1991.
Knightoconus antarcticus is an extinct species of fossil monoplacophoran from the Cambrian Minaret Formation of Antarctica. It is thought to represent an ancestor to the cephalopods. It had a chambered conical shell, but lacked a siphuncle.
Aldanellidae is an extinct family of paleozoic molluscs that have been assigned to the Gastropod stem group but may also belong to a paraphyletic "Monoplacophora".
Pelagiellidae is an extinct family of Paleozoic fossil 'snails'. Some material assigned to this taxon represents gastropod molluscs, but some chaeta-bearing specimens first assigned to Pelagiella are perhaps better interpreted as tube-bearing annelid worms.
Trenella is the sole genus in the Trenellidae, an extinct family of paleozoic Yochelcionellids.
Stenothecidae is an extinct family of fossil univalved Cambrian molluscs which may be either gastropods or monoplacophorans.
Yochelcionelloidea is an extinct superfamily of paleozoic molluscs of uncertain position. The earliest yochelcionellids are known from the Middle Tommotian, but they are most diverse from the Botomian through the early Middle Cambrian.
Anabarella is a species of bilaterally-flattened monoplacophoran mollusc, with a morphological similarity to the rostroconchs. Its shell preserves evidence of three mineralogical textures on its outer surface: it is polygonal near the crest of the shell, subsequently changing to both spiny and stepwise. Its internal microstructure is calcitic and semi-nacreous. Its name reflects its provenance from Anabar, Siberia. It has been interpreted as ancestral to the rostroconchs, and has been aligned to the Helcionellidae.
Fordilla is an extinct genus of early bivalves, one of two genera in the extinct family Fordillidae. The genus is known solely from Early Cambrian fossils found in North America, Greenland, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. The genus currently contains three described species, Fordilla germanica, Fordilla sibirica, and the type species Fordilla troyensis.
This overview lists proposed changes in the taxonomy of gastropods at the family level and above since 2005, when the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi (2005) was published. In other words, these are recent updates in the way various groups of snails and slugs are classified.
Stenothecoida is a taxon of bivalved fossils from the Early to middle Cambrian period. They look a bit like brachiopods or bivalve molluscs.
Pojetaia is an extinct genus of early bivalves, one of two genera in the extinct family Fordillidae. The genus is known solely from Early to Middle Cambrian fossils found in North America, Greenland, Europe, North Africa, Asia, and Australia. The genus currently contains two accepted species, Pojetaia runnegari, the type species, and Pojetaia sarhroensis, though up to seven species have been proposed. The genera Buluniella, Jellia, and Oryzoconcha are all considered synonyms of Pojetaia.
Watsonella is an extinct genus of mollusc known from early (Terreneuvian) Cambrian strata. It has been hypothesized to be close to the origin of bivalves. It contains a single species, Watsonella crosbyi.
Multiplacophora is a stem-group of chitons with a number of plates arranged in 7 rows along the body. They date to at least the Upper Cambrian, but two lower Cambrian fossils- Ocruranus and Trachyplax - may extend the range downwards.
Fordilloidea is an extinct superfamily of early bivalves containing two described families, Fordillidae and Camyidae and the only superfamily in the order Fordillida. The superfamily is known from fossils of early to middle Cambrian age found in North America, Greenland, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. Fordillidae currently contains two genera, Fordilla and Pojetaia each with up to three described species while Camyidae only contains a single genus Camya with one described species, Camya asy. Due to the size and age of the fossil specimens, Fordillidae species are included as part of the Turkish Small shelly fauna.
