Nectocarididae

Nectocarididae
Temporal range: 520–461 Ma
Nectocaris pteryx after the reconstruction of Smith & Caron (2010)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Clade: Bilateria
Family: †Nectocarididae
Conway Morris, 1976
Genera[1]

Nectocarididae is a controversial family of animals that superficially resemble squids. Only two genera have been described, being Nectocaris (=Vetustovermis, Petalilium?) from the Cambrian period, and Nectocotis, from the Ordovician period.[2] Some researchers claim they are cephalopods, however, this is heavily disputed and most reject this claim.[3][4] They may be related to chaetognaths, on account of their similar body plan to Timorebestia, however this is unclear.

  1. ^ "Nectocarididae". Paleobiology Database. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  2. ^ Smith, Martin R. (2019). "An Ordovician nectocaridid hints at an endocochleate origin of Cephalopoda" (PDF). Journal of Paleontology. 94: 64–69. doi:10.1017/jpa.2019.57. S2CID 201208912.
  3. ^ Pohle, Alexander; Kröger, Björn; Warnock, Rachel C. M.; King, Andy H.; Evans, David H.; Aubrechtová, Martina; Cichowolski, Marcela; Fang, Xiang; Klug, Christian (December 2022). "Early cephalopod evolution clarified through Bayesian phylogenetic inference". BMC Biology. 20 (1): 88. doi:10.1186/s12915-022-01284-5. ISSN 1741-7007. PMC 9008929. PMID 35421982.
  4. ^ Kröger, Björn; Vinther, Jakob; Fuchs, Dirk (August 2011). "Cephalopod origin and evolution: A congruent picture emerging from fossils, development and molecules". BioEssays. 33 (8): 602–613. doi:10.1002/bies.201100001. PMID 21681989. S2CID 2767810.