''Bactroceras'' is a genus of

orthoceratoid Orthoceratoidea is a major subclass of nautiloid cephalopods. Members of this subclass usually have orthoconic (straight) to slightly cyrtoconic (curved) shells, and central to subcentral siphuncles which may bear internal deposits. Orthoceratoi ...

cephalopods 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, an ...

that lived during the early Middle Ordovician, from about 472—464

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, existing for approximately 8 million years.Nautiloidea – Ellesmerocerida by W.M Furnish and Brian F. Glensister; Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology Part K R.C. Moore (ed) Univ.Kans. press

Taxonomy

''Bactroceras'' was named by Holm (1898). Its type is ''Bactroceras avus''. It was assigned to the order

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 ...

and family

Baltoceratidae Baltoceratidae is an extinct family of orthoconic cephalopods belonging to the subclass Nautiloidea endemic to what would be Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America during the Ordovician living from about 480–460 mya, exist ...

by Furnish and Glenister (1964) and retained there by Evans (2005).D. H. Evans. 2005. The Lower and Middle Ordovician cephalopod faunas of England and Wales. Monograph of the Palaeontographical Society 623:1-81 King & Evans (2019) instead placed it in its own family (Bactroceratidae), as part of the newly named order

Rioceratida Riocerida, originally named as Rioceratida, is an extinct order of Ordovician nautiloid cephalopods. They were the earliest-diverging members of the major group Orthoceratoidea, with which they share dorsomyarian muscle scars (a few large muscl ...

. Some paleontologists have regarded ''Bactroceras'' as an early

bactritid 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 ye ...

because of its spherical apex and ventral

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 ...

. However, a more recent study has argued that the shell of ''Bactroceras'' has important differences from those of true bactritids. For instance, the first shell chamber of ''Bactroceras'' resembles that of other Ordovician

orthocerid 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 ...

s, such as ''Archigeisonoceras'' and ''Hedstroemoceras'': it is about 10 mm in diameter and is short, forming a spherical cap. True bactritids more strongly resemble late Silurian and Devonian orthocerids, whose first chamber is only about 5 mm across. Moreover, there is a large stratigraphic gap of nearly 50 million years between ''Bactroceras'' and the next

orthocone An orthocone is an unusually long straight shell of a nautiloid cephalopod.; During the 18th and 19th centuries, all shells of this type were named ''Orthoceras'', creating a wastebasket taxon, but it is now known that many groups of nautiloids d ...

s with a spherical apex and ventral siphuncle.

Morphology

''Bactroceras'' had a thin, cone shaped shell. Its

, the tube connecting its chambers to the animal's body, was ventral, which means that it ran next to the shell wall on the underside of the shell. The first chamber of the shell was spherical. The soft anatomy of the animal is unknown, but it lacked mineral deposits in its shell, so it may have floated with the point of its shell upward, but somewhat inclined. ''Bactroceras'' differs from the later cephalopod '' Bactrites'' in that its shell was more circular in cross section and has deeper V-shaped ventral lobes.

Fossil distribution

Fossils were found in Middle Ordovician strata dating from the

Whiterockian The Whiterockian, often referred to simply as the Whiterock, is an earliest or lowermost stage of the Middle Ordovician. Although the Whiterockian or Whiterock Stage refers mainly to the early Middle Ordovician in North America, it is often used in ...

/ Llanvirnian age. Locations were varied and stretched from New South Wales, Australia to El Puente,

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to Antelope Valley, Nevada.

Taxonomy

Morphology

Fossil distribution

References

Further reading