Hercoglossidae is a family of Nautilid in the superfamily Nautilaceae. It was established by Spath in 1927 for smooth, involute

nautiloids 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 ...

characterized by a suture with differentiated elements, known from the Upper Jurassic to the Oligocene. Four genera are described in the Treatise. They are '' Hercoglossa'', '' Aturoidea'', '' Cimonia'', and '' Deltoidonatilus''. All have a whorl section that is generally rounded, except for ''Deltoidonatilus'' where in it is triangular in outline. Sutural complexity increases from ''Cimomia'' to ''Hercoglossa'' and to ''Aturoidea''. The suture in ''Deltoidonautilus'' is like than in ''Hercoglossa''. ''Cimomia'', which intergrades with ''Eutrephoceras'', is the earliest and makes its first appearance in the Upper

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of ...

. ''Eutrephoceras'' is assigned to the

Nautilidae The nautilus (, ) is a pelagic marine mollusc of the cephalopod family Nautilidae. The nautilus is the sole extant family of the superfamily Nautilaceae and of its smaller but near equal suborder, Nautilina. It comprises six living species ...

which includes ''

Nautilus The nautilus (, ) is a pelagic marine mollusc of the cephalopod family Nautilidae. The nautilus is the sole extant family of the superfamily Nautilaceae and of its smaller but near equal suborder, Nautilina. It comprises six living species in ...

''. ''Hercoglossa'', which is derived from ''Cimomia'', first appears in the Lower Cretaceous and is followed stratigraphically by ''Aturoidea'' and ''Deltoidonautilus'' which first appear in the Upper Cretaceous. ''Aturoidea'' is the progenitor of '' Aturia'' (of the monotypic Aturidae), to which it gave rise in the Paleocene.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5736318 Prehistoric nautiloid families Late Jurassic first appearances Oligocene extinctions