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Lowoceratidae
The Lowoceratidae is a small family of discosorids, early nautiloid cephalopods, from the Middle Silurian in which the characteristic bullette is found only in early growth stages. Lowoceratids were first found in Southampton Island in the Canadian arctic. The Lowoceratidae consists so far of only two genera, ''Lowoceras'' and ''Tuylocras'', named by Foerste and Savage in 1927 and combined by Flower in 1940 as the Lowoceratidae. Both are strongly compressed, exogastric brevicones with the ventral side more narrowly rounded than the dorsal. Shells enlarge moderately to the middle of the mature body chamber, then contract gently toward the aperture. The siphuncle in each is slightly removed from the ventral margin. The siphuncle of ''Tuyloceras'', genotype ''T. percurvatum'', starts off with slender, subquadrate segments with thick rings and swollen bullettes, but later in life the segments become expanded, rings thinner, and bullettes simple and unswollen. ''Lowoceras'', gen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Discosorida
Discosorida are an order of cephalopods that lived from the beginning of the Middle Ordovician, through the Silurian, and into the Devonian. Discosorids are unique in the structure and formation of the siphuncle, the tube that runs through and connects the camerae (chambers) in cephalopods, which unlike those in other orders is zoned longitudinally along the segments rather than laterally. Siphuncle structure indicated that the Discosorida evolved directly from the Plectronoceratida rather than through the more developed Ellesmerocerida, as did the other orders. Finally and most diagnostic, discosorids developed a reinforcing, grommet-like structure in the septal opening of the siphuncle known as the bullette, formed by a thickening of the connecting ring as it draped around the folded back septal neck. Evolution The origin of the Discosorida is unknown, thought at one timeRousseau H. Flower. 1964. The Nautiloid Order Ellesmerocerida (Cephalopods); relevant pages. Memoir 12 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Westonoceratidae
Westonoceratidae are exogastric, mostly compressed, Discosorida of moderate size from the Middle Ordovician to the Lower Silurian. The siphuncle is typically close to the convexly curved outer margin of the phragmocone – the chambered part of the shell – taken to be ventral but may be more central in some genera. Connecting rings are thin to moderately thick with inflated bullettes grasping the previous septal foremina. Parietal deposits within the siphuncle from endocones in advanced genera and cameral deposits are found in some. The Westonoceratidae are derived from the Cyrtogomphoceratidae through the cyrtogomphoceratid, '' Ulrichoceras''. In turn, the Westonoceratidae gave rise to a small group of discosorids, the Lowoceratidae, which form an intermediary step before the Discosoridae. Two principal lineages have been identified, both stemming from the genus '' Teichertoceras'', a derivative of ''Ulrichoceras''. One goes simply from '' Westonoceras'' to '' Winnipeg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Discosoridae
Discosoridae comprise a family of endogastric discosorids, (Cephalopoda, Nautiloidea), with endocones in the siphuncle, ranging from the Middle Silurian to Middle Devonian. Shell morphology The shell in the Discosoridae is conical, expanding variably with respect to genus. Curvature tends to be slight with the ventral or siphuncular side slightly concave in profile (the endogastric condition), and the opposite dorsal side arched or convex in profile (another endogastric condition). The siphuncle is composed of broadly rounded segments the increase rapidly in size toward the aperture, with growth. Expansion is commonly greater than that of the shell itself, and lies ventral of the center. Septal necks are short, brims long and recumbent. Connecting rings are thin and poorly known. Bullettes at the apical end of the connecting rings, which grasp the periphery of the previous septal foramina and connect to the inside of the previous septal necks, are never swollen. Endocones a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Silurian
The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 24.6 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the shortest period of the Paleozoic Era. As with other geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period's start and end are well identified, but the exact dates are uncertain by a few million years. The base of the Silurian is set at a series of major Ordovician–Silurian extinction events when up to 60% of marine genera were wiped out. One important event in this period was the initial establishment of terrestrial life in what is known as the Silurian-Devonian Terrestrial Revolution: vascular plants emerged from more primitive land plants, dikaryan fungi started expanding and diversifying along with glomeromycotan fungi, and three groups of arthropods (myriapods, arachnids and hexapods) became fully terrestrialized. A significant evolutionary milestone during ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nautiloidea
Nautiloids are a group of marine cephalopods (Mollusca) which originated in the Late Cambrian and are represented today by the living ''Nautilus'' and ''Allonautilus''. Fossil nautiloids are diverse and speciose, with over 2,500 recorded species. They flourished during the early Paleozoic era, when they constituted the main predatory animals. Early in their evolution, nautiloids developed an extraordinary diversity of shell shapes, including coiled morphologies and giant straight-shelled forms ( orthocones). Only a handful of rare coiled species, the nautiluses, survive to the present day. In a broad sense, "nautiloid" refers to a major cephalopod subclass or collection of subclasses (Nautiloidea ''sensu lato''). Nautiloids are typically considered one of three main groups of cephalopods, along with the extinct ammonoids (ammonites) and living coleoids (such as squid, octopus, and kin). While ammonoids and coleoids are monophyletic clades with exclusive ancestor-descendant rela ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siphuncle
The siphuncle is a strand of tissue passing longitudinally through the shell of a cephalopod mollusk. Only cephalopods with chambered shells have siphuncles, such as the extinct ammonites and belemnites, and the living nautiluses, cuttlefish, and ''Spirula''. In the case of the cuttlefish, the siphuncle is indistinct and connects all the small chambers of that animal's highly modified shell; in the other cephalopods it is thread-like and passes through small openings in the septa (walls) dividing the camerae (chambers). Some older studies have used the term siphon for the siphuncle, though this naming convention is uncommon in modern studies to prevent confusion with a mollusc organ of the same name. Function The siphuncle is used primarily in emptying water from new chambers as the shell grows. To perform this task, the cephalopod increases the saltiness of the blood in the siphuncle, and the water moves from the more dilute chamber into the blood through osmosis. At the sam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Treatise On Invertebrate Paleontology
The ''Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology'' (or ''TIP'') published by the Geological Society of America and the University of Kansas Press, is a definitive multi-authored work of some 50 volumes, written by more than 300 paleontologists, and covering every phylum, class, order, family, and genus of fossil and extant (still living) invertebrate animals. The prehistoric invertebrates are described as to their taxonomy, morphology, paleoecology, stratigraphic and paleogeographic range. However, taxa with no fossil record whatsoever have just a very brief listing. Publication of the decades-long ''Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology'' is a work-in-progress; and therefore it is not yet complete: For example, there is no volume yet published regarding the post-Paleozoic era caenogastropods (a molluscan group including the whelk and Common periwinkle, periwinkle). Furthermore, every so often, previously published volumes of the ''Treatise'' are revised. Evolution of the proje ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Silurian First Appearances
The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 24.6 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the shortest period of the Paleozoic Era. As with other geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period's start and end are well identified, but the exact dates are uncertain by a few million years. The base of the Silurian is set at a series of major Ordovician–Silurian extinction events when up to 60% of marine genera were wiped out. One important event in this period was the initial establishment of terrestrial life in what is known as the Silurian-Devonian Terrestrial Revolution: vascular plants emerged from more primitive land plants, dikaryan fungi started expanding and diversifying along with glomeromycotan fungi, and three groups of arthropods (myriapods, arachnids and hexapods) became fully terrestrialized. A significant evolutionary milestone during th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
