''Beyrichoceras'' is a genus belonging to the goniatitid family

Maxigoniatitidae Maxigoniatitidae is one of nine families of the Pericycloidea superfamily. They are an extinct group of ammonoid, which are shelled cephalopods related to squids, belemnites, octopuses, and cuttlefish, and more distantly to the nautiloid Nauti ...

Paleobioloby-Beyrichoceras
12/08/09 that lived during the Mississippian Period (Early Carboniferous)

Description

''Beyrichoceras'' can be recognized by its small, thickly discoidal

shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

with small umbilicus, deep dorsal impression, arched flanks and rounded venter Miller, Furnish, and Schindewolf, 1957, Paleozoic Ammonoidea, Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Part L, Mollusca 4. The ventral lobe of the suture is bifurcated, wide at its base, narrowing apically, ending in a pair of outwardly turned prongs separated by a low median saddle. The first lateral lobe is similar in size to the ventral lobe; broad, V-shaped, and more or less symmetrical. The umbilical lobe, like the first lateral lobe, is broad, V-shaped, and fairly symmetrical, only much shallower. The dorsal lobe is long and narrow, closely flanked by narrow internal lobes.

Taxonomic position

''Beyrichoceras'' is assigned to the Maximitidae, GONIAT-online
12/08/09 although some authors have assigned it to the

Muensteroceratidae Muensteroceratidae is one of nine families of the Pericycloidea superfamily. They are an extinct group of ammonoid, which are shelled cephalopods related to squids, belemnites, octopuses, and cuttlefish, and more distantly to the nautiloid Nau ...

Anthracoceratidae Anthracoceratidae is one of nine families of the Pericycloidea superfamily. They are an extinct group of ammonoid, which are shelled cephalopods related to squids, belemnites, octopuses, and cuttlefish, and more distantly to the nautiloid Naut ...

.W. B. Saunders, D. M. Work, S. V. Nikolaev
Evolution of Complexity in Paleozoic Ammonoid Sutures, Supplementary Material
Science magazine Miller and Furnish included ''Beyrichoceras'' in the subfamily Goniatitinae, family

Goniatitidae Goniatitidae is one of three families included in the Ammonoidea, ammonoid cephalopod superfamily Goniatitoidea, known from the Lower Mississippian (geology), Mississippian to the Upper Permian. They have sutures that form 8 lobes and characteris ...

, and superfamily Goniatitaceae. The Maxigoniatitidae, established by Korn, Klug & Mapes, 1999, is based on ''Goniatites maximus'' var. ''saourensis'' Pareyn, 1961, renamed '' Maxigoniatites''

Distribution and range

''Beyrichoceras'' is found in middle Lower

Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a Geologic time scale, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era that spans 60 million years, from the end of the Devonian Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the ...

(

Mississippian Mississippian may refer to: * Mississippian (geology), a subperiod of the Carboniferous period in the geologic timescale, roughly 360 to 325 million years ago * Mississippian cultures, a network of precontact cultures across the midwest and Easte ...

upper Osagean-Meremacian equivalent) strata in North America, Europe, and North Africa.

Paleoecology

''Beyrichoceras'' has been described as a "fast-moving nektonic carnivore". Its small, involutely coiled form nevertheless suggest a floating nektonic or nekto-benthic stalker capable to sudden swift maneuvering. As with all known cephalopods, ''Beyrichoceras'' was undoubtedly carnivorous.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4900233 Goniatitida genera Ammonites of Europe Mississippian ammonites Pericyclaceae