Brevicoceratidae
| Brevicoceratidae Temporal range:
| |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Cephalopoda |
| Subclass: | Nautiloidea |
| Order: | †Oncocerida |
| Family: | †Brevicoceratidae Flower, 1941 |
The Brevicoceratidae is a family of oncocerids that contains genera characterized by exogastric (or rarely endogastric) gyrocones, brevicones, and torticones.[1][2] that tend to develop vestigial actinosiphonate deposits and subtriangular transverse sections. The Brevicoceratidae are derived from Oonoceras (Oncoceratidae) and range from the mid-Silurian to the Upper Devonian.[2]
Brevicoceratidae is named for the Middle Devonian genus, Brevicoceras, from North America.[2] All told there are some 17 named genera. The family begins with Oxygonioceras in the Middle Silurian,[2] sole recognized representative of that time, and reaches its greatest diversity with 12 genera in the Middle Devonian.[2] The Brevicoceratidae are reduced to four genera in the Upper Devonian, when they become extinct.
References[edit]
- ^ Flower, Rousseau H.; Kummel, Bernhard (1950). "Flower & Kümmel; a Classification of the Nautiloidea". Journal of Paleontology. 24 (5): 604–616. JSTOR 1299547.
- ^ a b c d e Sweet, W. C. (1964). "Nautiloidea-Oncocerida". Nautiloidea. Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology. Vol. K. Geological Society of America and University of Kansas Press.