Riocerida

Riocerida Temporal range: Tremadocian–Katian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Cephalopoda
Subclass:	†Orthoceratoidea
Order:	†Riocerida King & Evans, 2019
Families
Bactroceratidae Rioceratidae

Riocerida,^[1] originally named as Rioceratida,^[2] is an extinct order of Ordovician nautiloid cephalopods. They were the earliest-diverging members of the major group Orthoceratoidea, with which they share dorsomyarian muscle scars (a few large muscle scars concentrated at the top of the body chamber).^[1][2] However, they also possess several plesiomorphic ("primitive") traits which are absent in other orthoceratoids: Cameral and endosiphuncular deposits are absent, and the siphuncle has a marginal position along the lower edge of the shell. The conch (external shell) shape is slender, usually orthoconic (straight) or weakly cyrtoconic (slightly curved).^[2] The monophyly of Riocerida as a unique group is plausible but difficult to confirm, and they may instead be a paraphyletic grade or polyphyletic assemblage ancestral to all later orthoceratoids.^[1]