Thursday, November 29, 2007
†Rutocerina †Lirocerina Nautilina
Nautilida is an order of mostly prehistoric cephalopods that includes the modern nautiluses and their immediate ancestors and relatives. All recent nautiloids are included in this group. This was a large and diverse group from the Late Paleozoic through to the Middle Cenozoic. Between 24 and 34 families and 165 to 184 genera are recognised, making it the largest order of the Nautiloidea. Today the group is represented only by the six species of the genera Nautilus and Allonautilus.