Prolecanitoidea is a taxonomic superfamily of

ammonite Ammonoids are a group of extinct marine mollusc animals in the subclass Ammonoidea of the class Cephalopoda. These molluscs, commonly referred to as ammonites, are more closely related to living coleoids (i.e., octopuses, squid and cuttle ...

s, fossil

cephalopod A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan class Cephalopoda ( Greek plural , ; "head-feet") such as a squid, octopus, cuttlefish, or nautilus. These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral body symmetry, a prominent head, ...

s. This is one of two superfamilies in the Prolecanitida. The other is the

Medlicottioidea The Medlicottioidea is one of two superfamilies that make up the Prolecanitida, the other being the Prolecanitoidea. The Medlicottioidea are recognized by their discoidal to thinly lenticular, and involute shells with small umbilici; flat, often ...

. The Prolecanitoidea are found in the Upper

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, w ...

to the Middle

Permian The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last period of the Pale ...

and are recognized basically by their generally smooth discoidal to lentincular shells which have a large umbilicus and goniatitic to ceratitic sutures. In this order, suture complexity developed by the addition of lobes from the umbilical area, across the flanks, during the life (ontogeny) of the animal, and phylogenetically with succeeding genera. The Prolecanitoidea combines two related families, the ancestral Prolecanitidae and the derived Daraelitidae. A third family, the Prodromitidae has been abandoned and its sole genus, ''Prodromites'' included in the Prolecanitidae. These two families differ primarily in the complexity of the suture which is simpler and goniatitic in the Prodromitidae and more complex and ceratitic in the Daraelitidae. The Prolecanitoidea are distinguished from the Medlicottioidea primarily by their rounded rather than flat or grooved vente and large as opposed to small umbilici. The Prolecanitoidea were previously known by the name, Prolecanitaceae, prior to the recent ruling of the

ICZN The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is a widely accepted convention in zoology that rules the formal scientific naming of organisms treated as animals. It is also informally known as the ICZN Code, for its publisher, the Int ...

regarding superfamilies. The suffix -oidea was previously used for some time in invertebrate taxonomies as the ending for subclasses, e.g. Ammonoidea. The Medlicottioidea are also sometimes known as the suborder Prolecanitina.

References

* Miller, Furnish, and Schindewolf, 1957; Paleozoic Ammonoidea, esp. superfamily Prolecanitaceae, L69, in The Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Part L, Ammonoidea. * Saunders and Work; Abstract: Evolution of shell morphology and suture complexity in Paleozoic prolecanitids..

Prolecanitida Prehistoric animal superfamilies Late Devonian first appearances Late Devonian animals Guadalupian extinctions {{Prolecanitida-stub