''Sinoceras'' is an extinct genus of nautiloids from

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

included in the family

Orthoceratidae Orthoceratidae is an extinct family of actively mobile carnivorous cephalopods, subclass Nautiloidea, that lived in what would be North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia from the Ordovician through Triassic from 490—203.7 mya, exist ...

that lived from the middle Ordovician until the

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, whe ...

. The type species, ''S. chinense'', was originally described as "''

Orthoceras ''Orthoceras'' ("straight horn") is a genus of extinct nautiloid cephalopod restricted to Middle Ordovician-aged marine limestones of the Baltic States and Sweden. This genus is sometimes called ''Orthoceratites''. Note it is sometimes misspelle ...

chinense''," but then was promoted by Shimizu and Obata to its own genus, ''Sinoceras'', in 1935. The shell of ''Sinoceras'' is like ''

Michelinoceras ''Michelinoceras'' is the oldest known genus of the Michelinocerida, more commonly known as the Orthocerida, characterized by long, slender, nearly cylindrical orthocones with a circular cross section, long camerae, very long body chambers, and a ...

'' in that it has a slender

orthoconic An orthocone is an unusually long straight shell of a nautiloid cephalopod.; During the 18th and 19th centuries, all shells of this type were named ''Orthoceras'', creating a wastebasket taxon, but it is now known that many groups of nautiloids d ...

shell but the camerae are shorter and

septal necks In biology, a septum (Latin for ''something that encloses''; plural septa) is a wall, dividing a cavity or structure into smaller ones. A cavity or structure divided in this way may be referred to as septate. Examples Human anatomy * Interatri ...

proportionally longer, reaching nearly a third the camera length. The surface in some is marked either by very fine irregular striae or by sinuous transverse growth bands. Doubtfully distinct from ''Michelinoceras''.

References

* Sweet, Walter C. 1964. Nautiloidea-Orthocerida.

Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology The ''Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology'' (or ''TIP'') published by the Geological Society of America and the University of Kansas Press, is a definitive multi-authored work of some 50 volumes, written by more than 300 paleontologists, and co ...

, Part K. Geological Soc of America, and Univ Kansas Press. * Sepkoski, J.J. Jr. 2002. A compendium of fossil marine animal genera. D.J. Jablonski & M.L. Foote (eds.). ''Bulletins of American Paleontology'' 363: 1–560. : see

List of nautiloids This list of nautiloids is a comprehensive listing of all genera that have ever been included in the subclass Nautiloidea, excluding purely vernacular terms. The list includes all commonly accepted genera, but also genera that are now considered in ...

Ordovician cephalopods of Asia Prehistoric nautiloid genera Middle Ordovician first appearances Devonian extinctions {{paleo-Nautiloidea-stub