🐚 InvertebratesPaleozoic before the PermianLesser known
Cameroceras
Cameroceras trentonense
Straight-shelled nautiloids were among the largest predators in Ordovician seas.
Image: James St. John · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
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Characteristics
- Scientific name
- Cameroceras trentonense
- Period
- Late Ordovician
- Lived
- 455–445 Ma (455 million years ago)
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Habitat
- Open sea
Description
Cameroceras was a nautiloid cephalopod with a straight, tapering shell that probably grew to several metres in length. Chambers in the shell helped regulate buoyancy, while its soft head and tentacles are largely unknown. It was probably an active predator of fish and other marine animals. Often-cited exceptional lengths are uncertain because complete shells are rare.
Habitat
Shallow seas over the Ordovician continental shelf.
Fossil sites
Black River Group, New York
Black River Group
Cultural profile: United States →
Sources: Cameroceras