Cameroceras
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| Cameroceras Fossil range: Ordovician |
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 Cameroceras trentonese
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Cameroceras ("chambered horn") was a genus of giant orthocone cephalopod that lived in the Ordovician period.
The partial shell of one giant Cameroceras yielded a total length estimated at the time at nearly 30 feet (9 metres). (This estimate has since been revised downward quite a bit.[1]) Regardless of this estimate's degree of accuracy, this gargantuan cephalopod was one of the largest animals ever to live during the Paleozoic Era, if not the largest. Judging from its huge size, it was likely an apex predator that lived in deeper water (it would possibly have been unable to maneuver in shallow water), and probably fed on eurypterids such as Megalograptus, large trilobites, and smaller cephalopods. The program "Chased by Sea Monsters" speculatively suggests that it was largely blind, having large, yet feeble eyes like those of what may be its closest living relative, Nautilus.
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[edit] Taxonomic usage
"Cameroceras" has become a catch all term, or "wastebasket taxon," for any large orthoconic endocerid such as Endoceras, Vaginoceras, Meniscoceras, and even Cameroceras as a described genus. Although Cameroceras trentonense was first described by Conrad for the species in 1842 since then the generic term has had variable meaning. Hall, who named and described Endoceras in 1847 recognized Cameroceras trentonense specifically but used Endoceras for other species of large endocerids from the Trenton Limestone of western New York state.
"Cameroceras" and "Endoceras" may even apply to different stages of the same species. Although Cameroceras takes precedence where the two refer to the same species, its vague application leaves Endoceras or other well described genus the term of choice.
[edit] In popular culture
It was featured in the Ordovician section of the BBC series Sea Monsters (a spin-off to the successful Walking with Dinosaurs) as the top predator, and also had a brief cameo in Walking with Monsters, bobbing in the water. In the Walking with Dinosaurs companion books, it is misspelled as "Cameraceras".
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ Teichert C and B Kummel (1960). "Size of Endocerid Cephalopods". Breviora Mus. Comp. Zool. 128: 1-7.
- Flower, Rousseau H. 1955. Status of Endoceroid Classification. Journal of Paleontology 29: 329–371.
- Haines, Tim, & Chambers, Paul. 2005. The Complete Guide to Prehistoric Life. BBC Books, London.
- Sweet, Walter C. Cephalopoda--General Features in Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Part K, Mollusca 3. Geological Society of America, and University of Kansas Press. Page K5.
- Teichert, C. 1964. Endoceratoidea in Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Part K, Mollusca 3. Geological Society of America, and University of Kansas Press. Page K174.
- Teichert, C., and B. Kummel 1960, Size of Endocerid Cephalopods; Breviora Mus. Comp. Zool. No. 128, 1–7.
