Hercoceras
| Hercoceras | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Hercoceras mirus, Middle Devonian, Prague Basin, Czech Republic, at the National Museum (Prague) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Cephalopoda |
| Subclass: | Nautiloidea |
| Order: | Nautilida |
| Family: | Rutoceratidae |
| Genus: | Hercoceras Barrande, 1865 |
Hercoceras is a trochoidally coiled nautiloid cephalopod placed in the nautilid family Rutoceratidae. These cephalopod lived i in the Eifelian age of the middle Devonian Period, which occurred 398-391 million years ago. Their shells have prominent lateral outgrowths in the form of spines and a high intraspecific variability.
Systematic
The Paleobiology database places Hercoceras in the family Rutoceratidae in the order Nautilida, but according some authors it should not be considered an early nautilid. They place this genus in family the Hercoceratidae in superfamily Rutoceratoidea in order Oncocerida.
Species
- Hercoceras mirum Barrande
- Hercoceras transiens Barrande
References
- The Paleobiology Database
- Sepkoski, Jack Sepkoski's Online Genus Database – Cephalopodes
- Museum of Comparative Zoology – Harvard University
- V. Turek – 2007 Systematic position and variability of the Devonian nautiloids Hercoceras and Ptenoceras
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