Domatoceras sp.
nautiloid cephalopod

Domatoceras sp.
Click Here to Magnify

Domatoceras sp. (fragment 1)
Click Here to Magnify

Domatoceras sp. fragment (opposite side)
Click Here to Magnify
Click Here to view Large
There is a small coral attached near the center.
It appears to be a Michelinia sp.
Click Here to view the Michelinia sp.

Domatoceras sp. (fragment 2)
Click Here to Magnify
Click Here to view Large

Domatoceras sp. (fragment 3 - view 1)
Click Here to Magnify

Domatoceras sp. (fragment 3 - veiw 2)
Click Here to Magnify

General abundance: small fragments Common
large fragments: Rare

Viewer Comments #1

The fossil appears to be a species of the coiled nautiloid genus
Domatoceras. A reference for these large coiled nautiloids is Tucker
& Mapes, 1978 that appeared in Journal of Paleontology, vol. 52, p.
596-604. In that report they describe the species Domatoceras
texanum, that is known from several formations of Late Pennsylvanian
age in Texas.

The shells are nearly always found as fragment of the living chamber.
That part of the shell is so thick that pieces weather out of shales
and can be picked up. The presence of nodes on the right angled
corners of a squared body chamber on the adults is quite distinctive.
There probably are other large species of this genus, but when
texanum was described it was the only one known of such large size.

Dr. Tom Yancey

Viewer Comments #2

This fossil looks to me to be a species of Metacoceras.
The nodes are also distinctive for that genus. I have found
what appears to be a whole small individual [ca. 2 cm diameter]
of this cephalopod from the Lake Neosho site. I have found a fair
number of larger partial individuals [to ca. 10 cm diam.] of the
genus from a site in Pennsylvania of comparative age to the
Lake Neosho strata. The genus is very similar to Domatoceras,
however.

These species have been listed for Henry County, MO [among others]:

Domatoceras umbilicatum Hyatt
Domatoceras williamsi Miller & Owen
Metacoceras biserratum Miller & Owen
Metacoceras mutabile Miller & Owen

Miller, A.K. and J.B.Owen. 1939. An ammonoid fauna from the Lower
Pennsylvanian Cherokee Formation of Missouri. Journal of Paleontology 13
(2): 141-162.

Dr. Steven R. Hill

Viewer Comments #3

Looked at this nautiloid earlier today and thought that it looked
familiar. Had to look through some reference material to find were
I had seen it. The information that I have would place your location
at the end of the Desmoinesian. I found that a Domatoceras williamsi
had been cited in two publications. First is the original description
by Miller & Owen in 1934. Later mentioned in an article in the
J.P. by Miller & Sturgeon, 1948. I do not know if this is the right
name for what you have found, but looks close. The specimen
was found in Missouri, from the Cherokee, which is early Desmoinesian.

I have found a few partials of Domatoceras in the Desmoinesian
here in Oklahoma. My specimens are found just below what would
be your Lake Neosho shale. Hope this is of some help.

Miller & Owen, 1934, Iowa University Studies Nat. Hist., n.s., no. 280,
vol. 16, no. 3, p. 246-250

Sturgeon & Miller, 1948, Journal of Paleontology,
vol. 22, p. 77-78, pl. 18, fig. 1

Bill Rushlau

Viewer Comments: #4

The large coiled nautiloid is best identified as Domatoceras sp.
Large species of coiled nautiloids are described for both Domatoceras
and Metacoceras, but ones with rectangular cross section of the outer
whorl and width narrower than height and flattened sides are assigned
to Domatoceras. Complications arise because large species may have
considerable change in form during growth and some named species
known only from small specimens may just be juveniles of larger ones.

This type of coiled nautiloid is present in the Carboniferous and
Permian and the group is discussed, with illustrations, in Miller and
Youngquist, 1949. They note that many species are poorly known. The
presence of low nodes on both the outer and inner shoulders of the
whorl is characteristic of these large species. Large, thick shelled
nautiloids like the one you collected are fairly common in the late
Pennsylvanian, but usually occur as broken shells. They can grow to a
diameter of 30 cm (12 inches) and have a shell wall 1 cm (3/8 in)
thick on the outer whorl. The one you have is probably an undescribed
species, but better specimens are needed to be sure.

Reference:

Miller, A. K. and Youngquist, W. 1949. American Permian Nautiloids.
Geological Society of America, Memoir 41, 218 p.

Dr. Tom Yancey

Go-Back
Phylum Mollusca
chitons cephalopods clams gastropods rostroconchs

Fossil Menu

Top of Page