Mongoceras is an extinct orthoconic nautiloid cephalopod found in the Silurian of China and Siberia.[1] It is included in the Orthocerida.[2] The family in undetermined.

Mongoceras
Temporal range: 443.7–428.2 Ma
Scientific classification
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Mongoceras

Morphology

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As with the Orthocerida the shell of Mongoceras is generally long and straight, with a generally central siphuncle composed of thin connecting rings. A vertical, heads down orientation in life can be inferred, in contrast with the horizontal benthic orientation of ellesmerocerida, endocerids, and many actinocerids with their weighted ventral siphuncles.[3]

Association

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Mongoceras has been found with Kionoceras, Geisonocers, and Sichuanoceras in Silurian reefoid formations in China, along with a suite of other benthic invertebrates. It has also been found in core samples from Siberia with Edenoceras hiliferum and Geisonoceras kureikense.[3]

References

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  1. ^ PaleoBiology Database Mongocerasentry accessed 10 July 2012
  2. ^ Sepkoski's list of Cephalopod genera
  3. ^ a b C. Teichert (1964). R.C. Moore (ed.). Part K, Mollusca 3. Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology. Lawrence, Kansas: Geological Society of America and University of Kansas Press. p. K190–K216.