Lituitida is an order 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 ...

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. They correspond to the family Lituitidae of the Treatise (Furnish & Glenister, 1964), reranked as an order and combined with other orthoceratoids. They are considered to be more closely related to the

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 ...

than to the

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 ...

Pseudorthocerida Pseudorthocerida is an order of generally straight longiconic orthoceratoids with a subcentral to marginal cyrtochoanitic siphuncle composed of variably expanded segments which may contain internal deposits that may develop into a continuous p ...

which are also included. Lituitids are characterized by smooth to annulate shells in which the juvenile portion near the apex is coiled or cyrtoconic. The adult portion is straight or slightly sigmoidal and may be expanded. Growth lines show a deep hyponomic sinus and lateral ocular sinuses. The siphuncle is subcentral with layered

connecting ring 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 ...

s. Cameral deposits are prevalent and concentrated more ventrally. The apex is small and spherical and lacks a cicatrix. The Lituitida, which were originally included in the Tarphycerida as the Lituitidae (Furnish and Glenister) have their beginnings in the Early Ordovician with forms like ''

Ancistroceras ''Ancistroceras'' is one of the two ancestral lituitids from the late Early Ordovician (Arenigian). The other being '' Holmiceras''. The shell is weakly annulate, starts off with 1.5 to 2 contiguous or slightly separated whorls followed by a rap ...

''. Their diversity increased after the late Arenigian extinction (Floian-Dapingian) at the end of the

Canadian Epoch The Canadian is the Lower or Early Ordovician in North America. The term is common in the older literature and has been well understood for more than a century. However it has no official recognition by the International Commission on Stratigraphy ( ...

and take a tumble following the early Cincinnatian (Sandbian) in the early Late Ordovician, from which the group never recovers. It is thought that they had a planktonic juvenile stage in their life cycle and that mature adults lived in the shallow waters of the open ocean. Some 8 genera have been described, all from the Baltic region of northern Europe. One genus, ''Holmiceras'', is limited to the Lower Ordovician and one, ''Ancistroceras'', comes from both the lower and middle of the period. Five genera included the type genus, ''

Lituites ''Lituites'' is an extinct nautiloid genus from the Middle Ordovician and type for the Lituitidae (a tarphycerid family) that in some more recent taxonomies has been classified with the orthocerids and listed under the order Lituitida. Fossil ...

'', are known only from the Middle Ordovician and one, ''Tyrioceras'', is known from the Middle and Upper Ordovician, the last of its kind. One study argued that Lituitida (also considered a suborder, Lituitina) was closely related to the proposed order Pallioceratida (or suborder Pallioceratina). Under this hypothesis, they would collectively form the superorder Astrovioidea (or order Astroviida), which was diagnosed based on extensive cameral deposits which partially obliterate the connecting rings. However, the validity of Pallioceratida/Pallioceratina or Astroviodea/Astroviida are not universally accepted.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6653366 Cephalopod orders Orthoceratoidea

Further reading

References