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Septum (mollusc Anatomy)
Septa (singular septum) are thin walls or partitions between the internal chambers ( camerae) of the shell of a cephalopod, namely nautiloids or ammonoids. As the creature grows, its body moves forward in the shell to a new living chamber, secreting septa behind it. This adds new chambers to the shell, which can be clearly seen in cross-sections of the shell of the living nautilus, or in ammonoid and nautiloid fossils. The septa are attached to the inside wall of the shell, thus dividing the phragmocone into camerae. Where the septum meets the shell a suture line forms; in some ammonoids these lines became extremely complex and elaborate, providing strength without the necessity of added weight. Elaborate sutures allowed for thinner shells, and hence less time needed for shell growth and less time spent in the vulnerable juvenile stage. The nature and structure of the septa, as with the camerae, and siphuncle, and the presence or absence of deposits, are important in cl ... [...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, Ne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sepiida
Cuttlefish or cuttles are marine molluscs of the order Sepiida. They belong to the class Cephalopoda which also includes squid, octopuses, and nautiluses. Cuttlefish have a unique internal shell, the cuttlebone, which is used for control of buoyancy. Cuttlefish have large, W-shaped pupils, eight arms, and two tentacles furnished with denticulated suckers, with which they secure their prey. They generally range in size from , with the largest species, the giant cuttlefish (''Sepia apama''), reaching in mantle length and over in mass. Cuttlefish eat small molluscs, crabs, shrimp, fish, octopus, worms, and other cuttlefish. Their predators include dolphins, sharks, fish, seals, seabirds, and other cuttlefish. The typical life expectancy of a cuttlefish is about 1–2 years. Studies are said to indicate cuttlefish to be among the most intelligent invertebrates. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aulacocerida
Aulacocerida is an order of primitive coleoid cephalopods, possibly derived from michelinoceraitids ( Orthocerida) early in the Devonian, which in turn gave rise to the Belemnites. Aulococerids are characterized by a straight, slim, conical shell with a large living chamber, simple aperture. The protoconch (initial, embryonic chamber) is egg-shaped and separated from the phragnocone by a constriction. The siphucle is narrow and ventral, constricted at the septa and expanded in the middle of the chamber; necks are retrochoantiic, project backwards toward the apex. Nacre recovered from aulococerids as well as from belemnites resembles that found in recent ''Sepia'' and ''Spirula'' but differs from that of recent ''Nautilus''. Opinions vary as to whether aulococerids were endocochleate, having internal shells as with modern squid, or were ectocochleate, having external shells as with nautilods and ammonites. Naef (in Bandel 1985) thought of aulacocerids as slender squids that lo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nautilida
The Nautilida constitute a large and diverse order of generally coiled nautiloid cephalopods that began in the mid Paleozoic and continues to the present with a single family, the Nautilidae which includes two genera, ''Nautilus'' and ''Allonautilus'', with six species. All told, between 22 and 34 families and 165 to 184 genera have been recognised, making this the largest order of the subclass Nautiloidea. Classification and phylogeny Current classification The current classification of the Nautilida, in prevalent use, is that of Bernhard Kummel (Kummel 1964) in the Treatise which divides the Nautilida into five superfamilies, the Aipocerataceae, Clydonautilaceae, Tainocerataceae, and Trigonocerataceae, mostly of the Paleozoic, and the later Nautilaceae. These include 22 families and some 165 or so genera (Teichert and Moore 1964) Other concepts Shimansky 1962 (in Kummel 1964) divided the Nautilida into five suborders, the mostly Paleozoic Centroceratina, Liroceratina, Rutoc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orthocerida
Orthocerida is an order of extinct Orthoceratoid cephalopods also known as the Michelinocerida that lived from the Early Ordovician () possibly to the Late Triassic (). A fossil found in the Caucasus suggests they may even have survived until the Early Cretaceous (). They were most common however from the Ordovician to the Devonian. Shell form The shell is usually long, and may be straight ("orthoconic") or gently curved. In life, these animals may have been similar to the modern squid, except for the long shell. The internal structure of the shell consists of concavo-convex chambers linked by a centrally-placed tube called a siphuncle. There is a tendency for the chambers to develop cameral deposits, which were used as ballast to balance the long gas-filled shell. Depending on the family, the siphuncle has orthochoanitic (short and straight) or cyrtochoanitic (outwardly curved) septal necks, which protrude from the septa. The shell surface may be (depending on the specie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endoceroidea
Endocerida is an extinct nautiloid order, a group of cephalopods from the Lower Paleozoic with cone-like deposits in their siphuncle. Endocerida was a diverse group of cephalopods that lived from the Early Ordovician possibly to the Late Silurian. Their shells were variable in form. Some were straight (orthoconic), others curved (cyrtoconic); some were long (longiconic), others short (breviconic). Some long-shelled forms like ''Endoceras'' attained shell lengths close to . The related ''Cameroceras'' is anecdotally reported to have reached lengths approaching , but these claims are problematic. The overwhelming majority of endocerids and nautiloids in general are much smaller, usually less than a meter long when fully grown. Morphology Endocerids had a relatively small body chamber as well as a proportionally large siphuncle, which in some genera reached nearly half the shell diameter. This suggests that much of the visceral mass may have been housed within the siphuncle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bactritoidea
The Bactritida are a small order of more or less straight-shelled (orthoconic) cephalopods that first appeared during the Emsian stage of the Devonian period (407 million years ago) with questionable origins in Pragian stage before 409 million years ago, and persisted until Carnian pluvial event in the upper middle Carnian stage of the Triassic period (231 million years ago). They are considered ancestors of the ammonoids, as well as of the coleoids ( octopus, squid, cuttlefish, and the extinct belemnites). Bactritids are distinguished from the more primitive nautiloids by the small size and globular shape of the protoconch, the so-called embryonic shell. Nautiloids have relatively large embryonic shells, and living species lay a few large eggs. In contrast, bactritids and ammonoids produced large numbers of small eggs, each housing a small embryonic shell. Classification and description Bactritida (Erben 1964) are characterized by orthoconic to cyrtochonic shells that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Belemnitida
Belemnitida (or the belemnite) is an extinct order of squid-like cephalopods that existed from the Late Triassic to Late Cretaceous. Unlike squid, belemnites had an internal skeleton that made up the cone. The parts are, from the arms-most to the tip: the tongue-shaped pro-ostracum, the conical phragmocone, and the pointy guard. The calcitic guard is the most common belemnite remain. Belemnites, in life, are thought to have had 10 hooked arms and a pair of fins on the guard. The chitinous hooks were usually no bigger than , though a belemnite could have had between 100 and 800 hooks in total, using them to stab and hold onto prey. Belemnites were an important food source for many Mesozoic marine creatures, both the adults and the planktonic juveniles, and likely played an important role in restructuring marine ecosystems after the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event. They may have laid between 100 and 1,000 eggs. Some species may have been adapted to speed and swam in the tur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Actinoceroidea
The Actinocerida are an order of generally straight, medium to large cephalopods that lived during the early and middle Paleozoic, distinguished by a siphuncle composed of expanded segments that extend into the adjacent chambers, in which deposits formed within contain a system of radial canals and a narrow space along the inner side of the connecting ring known as a paraspatium. (Teichert 1964) Septal necks are generally short and cyrtochoanitic, some being recumbent, some hook shaped. Most grew to lengths of about but some, like the Huroniidae of the Silurian grew significantly larger. Ecology The Actinocerida inhabited shallow to quite deep waters, where they alternated between swimming and lying on the bottom. They were predatory, and able to control their buoyancy to a greater degree than their contemporaries. Derivation The derivation of the Actinocerida remains enigmatic. They first appear late in the Early Ordovician (Cassinian Stage, late Floian) with the Georgini ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tarphycerida
The Tarphycerida were the first of the coiled cephalopods, found in marine sediments from the Lower Ordovician (middle and upper Canad) to the Middle Devonian. Some, such as '' Aphetoceras'' and '' Estonioceras'', are loosely coiled and gyroconic; others, such as '' Campbelloceras'', '' Tarphyceras'', and '' Trocholites'', are tightly coiled, but evolute with all whorls showing. The body chamber of tarphycerids is typically long and tubular,Furnish and Glenister 1964; Nautiloidea - Tarphycerida; In the ''Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology'' Vol K; Teichert and Moore, (eds) GSA and U of Kansas Press 1964 as much as half the length of the containing whorl in most, greater than in the Silurian Ophidioceratidae. The Tarphycerida evolved from the elongated, compressed, exogastric Bassleroceratidae, probably ''Bassleroceras'', around the end of the Gasconadian through forms like ''Aphetoceras''. Close coiling developed rather quickly, and both gyroconic and evolute forms are fou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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