Muensterellidae is a family of stem-octopod cephalopods from the Late Jurassic to Late Cretaceous.

Muensterellidae
Temporal range: Kimmeridgian–Campanian
Fossil of Muensterella scutellaris
Scientific classification
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Muensterellidae
Roger, 1952
Subgroups

Enchoteuthinae

Phylogeny

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Muensterellidae is one of two families in the superfamily Muensterelloidea along with the Patelloctopodidae. The muensterelloids are characterized by having a roughly spoon-shaped end of the gladius called the patella. This type of gladius is likely ancestral to the gladius remnants of modern octopuses.[1][2]

References

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  1. ^ Fuchs, D.; Schweigert, G. (2018). "First Middle–Late Jurassic gladius vestiges provide new evidence on the detailed origin of incirrate and cirrate octopuses (Coleoidea)". PalZ. 92 (2): 203–217. doi:10.1007/s12542-017-0399-8. S2CID 135245479.
  2. ^ Fuchs, Dirk; Iba, Yasuhiro; Heyng, Alexander; Iijima, Masaya; Klug, Christian; Larson, Neal L.; Schweigert, Günter (February 2020). Brayard, Arnaud (ed.). "The Muensterelloidea: phylogeny and character evolution of Mesozoic stem octopods". Papers in Palaeontology. 6 (1): 31–92. doi:10.1002/spp2.1254. ISSN 2056-2802. S2CID 198256507.