Nectocarididae is a controversial

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

of animals that superficially resemble squids. Only two genera have been described, being '' Nectocaris'' (=''Vetustovermis'', ''Petalilium''?) from the

Cambrian The Cambrian ( ) is the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 51.95 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran period 538.8 Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Ordov ...

period, and '' Nectocotis'', from the

Ordovician The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and System (geology), system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era (geology), Era, and the second of twelve periods of the Phanerozoic Eon (geology), Eon. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years f ...

period. Some researchers claim they are cephalopods, however, this is heavily disputed and most reject this claim.

List of Genera

*'' Nectocaris'' *'' Nectocotis'' *'' Vetustovermis''? synonym of Nectocaris *'' Petalilium''? synonym of Nectocaris

References

Cambrian life Taxa named by Simon Conway Morris Taxa described in 1976 Nectocarididae Prehistoric animal families {{cambrian-animal-stub