Macluritoidea

Macluritoidea; Temporal range: L Cambrian- Devonian
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Order:	Archaeogastropoda
Superfamily:	†Macluritoidea; Carpenter, 1861

The Macluritoidea, or Macluritacea as it was originally spelled, is a superfamily of hyperstrophically coiled, Upper Cambrian to Devonian, archaeogastropods,¹ or paragastropods according to Linsely and Kier (1984).²

Coiling is dextral, although it appears sinistral,¹ deduced from the position of the channel (presumed to be exhalent) contained in a ridge or keel (a selenizone on what is assumed to be the upper side. This is supported by the operculum of Maclurites, which corresponds to that of dextral gastropods.

According to the Treatise the Macluritaceae includes two families, the Onychochilidae and Macluritidae. Subsequent placement in the Paragastropoda² is based on the assumption these animals were untorted, that is they lacked the twisted viscera that are present in modern gastropods.

References

Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Part I, Mollusca 1. R.C. Moore (ed); Geol Soc of America and Univ Kansas Press, 1960
Robert M. Linsely, & Willian M. Kier, 1984. The Paragastropoda: a proposal for a new class of Paleozoic Mollusca. Malacologia, v.25, no.1, pp 241-254

[Treatise-1] Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Part I, Mollusca 1. R.C. Moore (ed); Geol Soc of America and Univ Kansas Press, 1960

[Linsely-2] Robert M. Linsely, & Willian M. Kier, 1984. The Paragastropoda: a proposal for a new class of Paleozoic Mollusca. Malacologia, v.25, no.1, pp 241-254

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