Ascoceratidae is a family of
Ascocerida
The Ascocerida are comparatively small, bizarre Orthoceratoids known only from Ordovician and Silurian sediments in Europe and North America, uniquely characterized by a deciduous conch consisting of a longiconic juvenile portion and an inflate ...
, bizarre
orthoceratoid cephalopod
A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan class Cephalopoda (Greek plural , ; "head-feet") such as a squid, octopus, cuttlefish, or nautilus. These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral body symmetry, a prominent head ...
s, with
longiconic, deciduous early growth stages which undergo period truncation and an inflated
breviconic mature ascoceroid stage. The Ascoceratidae are divided into two, unequal subfamilies.
Ascoceratinae have an