| Trachyteuthis Temporal range: Callovian–Cenomanian |
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| Restoration of Trachyteuthis hastiformis. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Cephalopoda |
| Subclass: | Coleoidea |
| Superorder: | Octopodiformes |
| Order: | incertae sedis |
| Family: | Trachyteuthididae |
| Subfamily: | Trachyteuthidinae Naef, 1921 |
| Genus: | Trachyteuthis Meyer, 1846 |
| Species | |
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Trachyteuthis is a genus of fossil teuthid, comprising four species: T. hastiformis, T. nusplingensis, T. teudopsiformis,[1] and T. covacevichi.[2]
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The taxonomic placement of Trachyteuthis is uncertain. Though often assigned to the order Vampyromorphida, the discovery of fossilised Trachyteuthis beaks in the Upper Jurassic limestone of Germany suggests a close phylogenetic relation to the Octopoda.[3][4] It is clear that it does at least belong in the Coleoidea.[1] It is thought to be very closely related to Teudopsis.[2]
Fossils are scarce but have been reported from the Kimmeridge clay of the UK; the Solenhofen limestone of Germany, Jurassic deposits in Antarctica,[5] and Oxfordian deposits in Chile.[2]
First described in 1773 as the remnants of a fish, Trachyteuthis was considered comparable to a Sepia cuttlebone by Rüppell in 1829. A separate genus was erected for the material in 1846 by Meyer.[1] English material was discovered in 1855 and termed Coccoteuthis latipinnis; this was later synonymised with the identical Solnhofen deposits. A 2007 survey of museum collection established that there were ground for the erection of three species within the genus.[1]