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Teudopseinagroup is extinct

Dirk Fuchs
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Containing group: Octopoda

Introduction

The Teudopseina represents the largest group of Mesozoic gladius bearing coleoids. Evolutionary transformations of their gladius are very well documented in the fossil record. Four families are currently known ranging from the early Toarcian to the latest Cretaceous: Teudopsidae, Trachyteuthididae, Muensterellidae, and Palaeololiginidae. Most characteristic is their anteriorly rounded or pointed median field. The gladius of the latter three families can be easily derived from the Teudopsidae.

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Figure: Selection of teudopseid gladii. A) Teudopsis subcostata (Teudopsidae, early Jurassic), B) Trachyteuthis teudopsiformis (Trachyteuthididae, late Jurassic), C) Glyphiteuthis libanotica (Trachyteuthididae, late Cretaceous), D) Actinosepia canadensis (Trachyteuthididae, late Cretaceous), E) Teudopsis bollensis (Teudopsidae, early Jurassic), F) Teudopsis buneli (Teudopsidae, early Jurassic), G) Palaeololigo oblonga (Palaeololiginidae, late Jurassic), H) Muensterella scutellaris (Muensterellidae, late Jurassic), I) Teudopsinia haasi (Teudopsidae, late Cretaceous) © Dirk Fuchs

Preserved arm crows are known from a number of species from different families (Trachyteuthis hastiformis, Glyphiteuthis libanotica, Glyphiteuthis abisaadiorum, Palaeololigo oblonga, Rachiteuthis donovani, Muensterella scutellaris). None of them display more than eight arms. The most abundant and therefore best known species is Trachyteuthis hastiformis.

Haas (2002), Bizikov (2004, 2008), Fuchs (2009), Fuchs et al. (2009; in press) and Fuchs & Weis (2009, in press) regarded the Teudopseina to be a stem-group of the Octopoda.

Characteristics

  1. Gladius
    1. Conus strongly reduced (spoon-shaped).
    2. Median field anteriorly distinctly rounded or pointed.
    3. Hyperbolar zones weakly curved, less than 60% of the median field length.
    4. Lateral fields shorter than the hyperbolar zones.

Classification

Problematic muensterellids

(*only 1 specimen known; ** 2-5 specimens; *** 5-10 specimens; **** > 10 specimens)

References

Bizikov, V.A. 2004. The shell in Vampyropoda (Cephalopoda): morphology, functional role and evolution. Ruthenica supplement 3: 1-88.

Bizikov, V.A. 2008. Evolution of the shell in cephalopoda. 447 p., Moscow (VNIRO Publishing).

Fuchs, D. 2006a. Fossil erhaltungsfähige Merkmalskomplexe der Coleoidea (Cephalopoda) und ihre phylogenetische Bedeutung. Berliner Paläobiologische Abhandlungen 8: 1-115.

Fuchs, D. 2006b. Diversity, Taxonomy and Morphology of vampyropod Coleoids (Cephalopoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of Lebanon. Memorie della Società Italiana di Scienze Naturali et del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano 34(II): 1-28.

Fuchs, D. 2009. Octobrachia - a diphyletic origin? Berliner Paläobiologische Abhandlungen 10: 182-192.

Fuchs, D. (in press). A rare and unusual teudopseid coleoid from the Late Cretaceous of Hâqel (Lebanon). In: Fuchs, D., Weis, R. & Faber, A., eds., Proceedings of the 3rd International Symposium Coleoid Cephalopods Through Time. Luxembourg 2008. Ferrantia, Musée national d'histoire naturelle Luxemburg.

Fuchs, D., Bracchi, G. & Weis, R. 2009. New records of octopods (Cephalopoda: Coleoidea) from the Late Cretaceous (Upper Cenomanian) of Hakel and Hadjoula (Lebanon). Paleontology 52(1): 56-81.

Fuchs, D., Engeser, T., & Keupp, H. 2007. Gladius shape variation in the genus Trachyteuthis Meyer 1846 (Cephalopoda: Coleoidea) from the Late Jurassic Plattenkalks of Nusplingen (Kimmeridgian) and Solnhofen (Tithonian). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 52(3): 575-589.

Fuchs, D., Stinnesbeck, W., Ifrim, C., Giersch, S., Gutierrez, J.M.P. & Frey, E. (in press). Glyphiteuthis rhinophora n. sp., a trachyteuthidid (Coleoidea, Cephalopoda) from the Cenomanian (Late Cretaceous) of Mexico. Paläontologische Zeitschrift.

Fuchs, D. & Weis, R. 2009. A new Cenomanian (Late Cretaceous) coleoid (Cephalopoda) from Hâdjoula, Lebanon. Fossil Record 12(2): 175-181.

Fuchs, D. & Weis, R. (in press). Taxonomy, morphology and phylogeny of Lower Jurassic teudopseid coleoids (Cephalopoda). Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie.

Haas, W. 2002. The evolutionary history of the eight-armed Coleoidea. Abhandlungen der Geologischen Bundesanstalt 57: 341-351.

Title Illustrations
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Scientific Name Teudopsis subcostata
Specimen Condition Fossil -- Period: Toarcian (Early Jurassic)
Identified By D. Fuchs
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Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 3.0.
Copyright © Dirk Fuchs
About This Page

Dirk Fuchs
Hokkaido University

Correspondence regarding this page should be directed to Dirk Fuchs at

Page: Tree of Life Teudopseina. Authored by Dirk Fuchs. The TEXT of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 3.0. Note that images and other media featured on this page are each governed by their own license, and they may or may not be available for reuse. Click on an image or a media link to access the media data window, which provides the relevant licensing information. For the general terms and conditions of ToL material reuse and redistribution, please see the Tree of Life Copyright Policies.

Citing this page:

Fuchs, Dirk. 2010. Teudopseina. Version 03 May 2010 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Teudopseina/140241/2010.05.03 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

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