''Aletoceras'' is a genus of
Oncocerida nautiloid
Nautiloids are a group of cephalopods (Mollusca) which originated in the Late Cambrian and are represented today by the living ''Nautilus'' and ''Allonautilus''. Fossil nautiloids are diverse and species rich, with over 2,500 recorded species. Th ...
s from the middle Devonian of North America included in the family
Brevicoceratidae.
The shell is a depressed brevicone, that is to say short. Sutures are generally straight, the siphuncle ventral, empty. The peristome (aperture rim) has a broad hyponomic sinus -for the hydrojet funnel, ventrolateral projections, dorsolateral sinuses - possibly for the eyes, and probably a mid dorsal sinus.
In general form, ''Aletoceras'' resembles ''
Brevicoceras'' and ''
Eleusoceras'', both also from the middle Devonian of North America.
The orientation of ''Aletoceras'' and others like it may have been vertical with the aperture facing down .
References
* W.C. Sweet 1964. Nautiloidea - Oncocerida,
Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology
The ''Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology,'' published from 1953–2007 by the Geological Society of America and the University of Kansas, then 2009–present by the University of Kansas Paleontological Institute, is a definitive multi-authore ...
, Part C. University of Kansas Press, Lawrence, Ka.
''Aletoceras''in Fossilworks, 1/5/15
Prehistoric nautiloid genera
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