Cooperoceras
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Cooperoceras Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
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| Reconstruction of C. texanum at Carnegie Museum of Natural History | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Cephalopoda |
| Subclass: | Nautiloidea |
| Order: | Nautilida |
| Family: | †Tainoceratidae |
| Genus: | †Cooperoceras Miller, 1945 |
| Type species | |
| †Cooperoceras texanum Miller, 1945 | |
| Species | |
| |
Cooperoceras is an extinct genus of nautilid cephalopods within the family Tainoceratidae. Its most characteristic trait is the presence of long paired hollow spines on its outer sides, which is one of the most extreme forms of shell ornamentation in nautiloids.[1] It lived from the Upper Carboniferous to the Lower Permian and its fossils have been found in North America and Europe.[1][2]
The shell is evolute, with an open umbilicus and sinuous ribs at maturity. The flanks and venter are flattened. The flanks converge on the dorsum. The venter has a shallow median groove and carries long paired ventrolateral spines that are widely spaced and recurve posteriorly. The sutures form shallow rounded ventral and lateral lobes. The siphuncle is small, tubular, and subcentral.[2][3]
