Brevicoceratidae
| Brevicoceratidae Temporal range: MSilurian-UDevonian | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Cephalopoda |
| Subclass: | Nautiloidea |
| Order: | Oncocerida |
| Family: | Brevicoceratidae Flower 1941 |
The Brevicoceratidae, named by Flower in 1941, is a family of oncocerids that contains genera characterized by exogastric (or rarely endogastric) gyrocones, brevicones, and torticones (Flower 1950, Sweet 1964) that tend to develop vestigial actinosiphonate deposits and subtriangular transverse sections. The Brevicoceratidae are derived from Oonoceras (Oncoceratidae) and range from the Middle Silurian to the Upper Devonian.(ibid-Sweet)
Brevicoceratidae is named for the Middle Devonian genus, Brevicoceras, from North America (Sweet 1964). All told there are some 17 named genera. The family begins with Oxgonioceras in the Middle Silurian,(ibid-Sweet) sole recognized representative of that time, and reaches its greatest diversity with 12 genera in the Middle Devonian.(ibid-Sweet) The Brevicoceratidae are reduced to four genera in the Upper Devonian, when they become extinct.
See also
List of nautiloids
References
- Flower,R.H. 1950; Flower & Kümmel; A Classification of the Nautiloidea;Journal of Paleontology, Vol 24, no 5, pp604–610, Sept 1950
- Sweet, W.C. 1964; Nautiloidea-Oncocerida, in the Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Part K Nautiloidea, Geological Society of America and University of Kansas Press.