Nautilidae

A nautilus is any of the various species within the cephalopod family Nautilidae. This is the sole extant family of the superfamily Nautilaceae, suborder Nautilina, order Nautilida, and subclass Nautiloidea.

Nautilidae

Manuae · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
NautiloideaPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB
Life habit
nektonicPBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB
Vision
well-developedPBDB, for Cephalopoda
Environment
marinePBDB, for Cephalopoda

Time the record covers

At least 303 million years on record.

The record covers at least 303.7 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 306 Mya to 0 Mya.

Carboniferous — about 2 of 1082 occurrencesPermian — about 3 of 1082 occurrencesPermianEarly Triassic — about 1 of 1082 occurrencesMiddle Triassic — about 16 of 1082 occurrencesLate Triassic — about 6 of 1082 occurrencesLate TriassicEarly Jurassic — about 31 of 1082 occurrencesEarly JurassicMiddle Jurassic — about 28 of 1082 occurrencesLate Jurassic — about 7 of 1082 occurrencesEarly Cretaceous — about 264 of 1082 occurrencesEarly CretaceousLate Cretaceous — about 472 of 1082 occurrencesLate CretaceousPaleocene — about 56 of 1082 occurrencesEocene — about 122 of 1082 occurrencesOligocene — about 8 of 1082 occurrencesMiocene — about 35 of 1082 occurrencesPliocene — about 1 of 1082 occurrencesPleistocene — about 2 of 1082 occurrences312–302 Mya — about 2 occurrences260–250 Mya — about 3 occurrences250–239 Mya — about 15 occurrences239–229 Mya — about 7 occurrences229–218 Mya — about 1 occurrence218–208 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences208–198 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences198–187 Mya — about 1 occurrence187–177 Mya — about 22 occurrences177–166 Mya — about 21 occurrences166–156 Mya — about 15 occurrences156–146 Mya — about 5 occurrences146–135 Mya — about 9 occurrences135–125 Mya — about 64 occurrences125–114 Mya — about 104 occurrences114–104 Mya — about 63 occurrences104–94 Mya — about 108 occurrences94–83 Mya — about 90 occurrences83–73 Mya — about 79 occurrences73–62 Mya — about 243 occurrences62–52 Mya — about 49 occurrences52–42 Mya — about 54 occurrences42–31 Mya — about 53 occurrences31–21 Mya — about 6 occurrences21–10 Mya — about 33 occurrences10–0 Mya — about 33 occurrences303.7 Mya11.7 ka312 Mya0 Mya

1,082 occurrences of Nautilidae on record, most of them in the Late Cretaceous. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

1,082 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

232 formations

Prairie Bluff — 34.63°N, 88.84°WPrairie Bluff — 33.90°N, 88.98°WPrairie Bluff — 33.79°N, 88.97°WPrairie Bluff — 33.79°N, 88.91°WPrairie Bluff — 33.72°N, 88.92°WPrairie Bluff — 33.50°N, 88.81°WPrairie Bluff — 33.38°N, 88.74°WPrairie Bluff — 33.15°N, 88.67°WPrairie Bluff — 33.05°N, 88.56°WPrairie Bluff — 32.91°N, 88.51°WPrairie Bluff — 34.48°N, 88.98°WPrairie Bluff — 32.73°N, 88.30°WPrairie Bluff — 32.74°N, 88.36°WPrairie Bluff — 32.66°N, 88.17°WPrairie Bluff — 32.61°N, 88.24°WPrairie Bluff — 32.49°N, 88.10°WPrairie Bluff — 32.43°N, 88.04°WPrairie Bluff — 32.39°N, 87.92°WPrairie Bluff — 32.23°N, 87.50°WPrairie Bluff — 32.14°N, 87.42°WPrairie Bluff — 32.07°N, 87.33°WPrairie Bluff — 32.04°N, 87.26°WPrairie Bluff — 32.08°N, 87.03°WPrairie Bluff — 32.05°N, 86.81°WPrairie Bluff — 32.05°N, 86.81°WPrairie Bluff — 31.97°N, 86.72°WPrairie Bluff — 31.98°N, 86.00°WPrairie Bluff — 31.99°N, 85.92°WLondon Clay — 51.40°N, 0.83°ELondon Clay — 50.89°N, 1.28°WLondon Clay — 51.73°N, 0.48°ELondon Clay — 51.51°N, 0.24°ELondon Clay — 51.53°N, 0.15°WLondon Clay — 51.46°N, 0.30°WLondon Clay — 51.41°N, 0.91°ELondon Clay — 50.78°N, 0.68°WLondon Clay — 51.53°N, 0.10°WLondon Clay — 51.60°N, 0.19°WCorsicana Marl — 33.51°N, 94.67°WCorsicana Marl — 33.10°N, 95.99°WCorsicana Marl — 32.87°N, 96.20°WCorsicana Marl — 32.85°N, 96.21°WCorsicana Marl — 32.59°N, 96.32°WCorsicana Marl — 32.07°N, 96.46°WCorsicana Marl — 30.37°N, 97.46°WCorsicana Marl — 29.44°N, 98.56°WCorsicana Marl — 29.37°N, 98.78°WCastle Hayne — 34.64°N, 77.65°WCastle Hayne — 34.37°N, 77.86°WCastle Hayne — 34.23°N, 77.94°WCastle Hayne — 34.27°N, 77.95°WCastle Hayne — 34.66°N, 77.70°WProvidence — 31.92°N, 85.82°WProvidence — 31.89°N, 85.70°WProvidence — 31.95°N, 85.68°WProvidence — 31.92°N, 85.35°WProvidence — 31.84°N, 85.22°WProvidence — 31.73°N, 85.11°WNacatoch Sand — 32.10°N, 96.47°WNacatoch Sand — 32.59°N, 96.31°WRosario — 29.58°N, 115.25°WRosario — 29.58°N, 115.24°WRosario — 31.46°N, 116.57°WRosario — 31.33°N, 116.45°WLopez de Bertodano — 64.25°S, 56.75°WLopez de Bertodano — 64.17°S, 57.75°WLopez de Bertodano — 63.88°S, 57.60°WSevern — 38.80°N, 77.00°WSevern — 38.89°N, 76.85°WSevern — 38.92°N, 76.85°WSevern — 39.04°N, 76.57°WAurora Limestone — 26.42°N, 103.25°WAhlen — 51.75°N, 8.03°EAhlen — 51.72°N, 8.03°EAhlen — 51.77°N, 8.05°EOkinoshima — 32.87°N, 129.55°EOkinoshima — 32.78°N, 129.83°EOkinoshima — 32.69°N, 129.77°ESardinero — 43.32°N, 3.35°WRierdon — 46.97°N, 109.04°WRierdon — 48.21°N, 109.09°WRierdon — 45.23°N, 108.75°WRierdon — 47.85°N, 108.58°WRierdon — 46.98°N, 109.19°WRierdon — 47.94°N, 108.43°WRierdon — 45.36°N, 108.71°WHythe — 51.08°N, 1.18°EHythe — 51.28°N, 0.53°EHythe — 51.25°N, 0.07°WSandgate — 51.23°N, 0.22°WSandgate — 51.23°N, 0.58°WSandgate — 50.98°N, 0.75°WSandgate — 51.67°N, 1.58°WSandgate — 51.35°N, 2.08°WSantee Limestone — 33.33°N, 80.15°WSantee Limestone — 33.33°N, 79.69°WSantee Limestone — 33.35°N, 80.25°WDhruma — 24.23°N, 46.58°EDhruma — 25.50°N, 45.00°EDhruma — 25.05°N, 45.67°EDhruma — 21.88°N, 45.83°EBeer Head Limestone — 51.08°N, 1.18°EBeer Head Limestone — 50.75°N, 2.33°WBeer Head Limestone — 50.83°N, 2.45°WBeer Head Limestone — 50.69°N, 3.21°WEssener Grünsand — 51.45°N, 7.02°EEssener Grünsand — 51.54°N, 7.70°ELa Meseta — 64.25°S, 56.69°WLa Meseta — 64.22°S, 56.64°WRio Mayer — 47.81°S, 71.96°WRio Mayer — 48.16°S, 70.35°WRio Mayer — 47.43°S, 71.96°WRio Mayer — 49.37°S, 71.67°WRio Mayer — 49.11°S, 71.78°WBolos — 38.27°N, 1.94°WDakhla — 26.52°N, 27.66°EDakhla — 25.90°N, 28.60°EDakhla — 25.74°N, 28.96°E

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The named rock units Nautilidae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 208 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 490 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Nautilidae and its relatives

Late Cretaceous

Where Nautilidae and its relatives were recorded in the Late Cretaceous.

Found in the same rock

2,558 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 930 sites for Nautilidae, and this reads 240 of them. Of that, one read hit the database's own return limit, so every count below is a floor rather than a total. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

260 references

Each of the 1,082 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 248 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Nautilidae

Credit
Manuae
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itNautiloidea through timeFormations of the Late CretaceousThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. de Blainville 1825