A new late Carboniferous coleoid from Oklahoma, USA: implications for the early evolutionary history of the subclass Coleoidea (Cephalopoda)

Abstract

AbstractThe limited record of the bactritoid-like coleoid cephalopods is here expanded due to discovery of a late Carboniferous (Moscovian) orthocone comprising a phragmocone and a body chamber with a proostracum-like structure, a sheath-like rostrum, an ink sac, and a muscular mantle preserved on top of the conch. The specimen comes from the Wewoka Formation in the vicinity of the city of Okmulgee, Oklahoma, which previously yielded an orthocone indicative of an evolutionary branch of the Carboniferous cephalopods described as the order Donovaniconida Doguzhaeva, Mapes, and Mutvei, 2007a within the subclass Coleoidea Bather, 1888. Here, we describe from that site a bactritoid-like coleoid,Oklaconus okmulgeensisn. gen. n. sp. in Oklaconidae n. fam. A broad lateral lobe of the suture line and a compressed conch with a narrowed dorsal side and a broadly rounded ventral side distinguish this genus fromDonovaniconusDoguzhaeva, Mapes, and Mutvei, 2002b. The muscular mantle is preserved as a dense sheet-like structure, with a crisscross pattern and a globular-lamellar ultrastructure. Recent knowledge on the early to late Carboniferous coleoids is discussed. Carboniferous coleoids show a high morphological plasticity with a capacity for being altered to create the diverse combinations of ‘bactritoid’ and ‘coleoid’ structures. This could be the principle evolutionary driver of their radiation in the late Carboniferous.