Endocerida
| Endocerida Temporal range:  | |
|---|---|
| The massive endocerid Cameroceras (middle) alongside other nautiloids | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota | 
| Kingdom: | Animalia | 
| Phylum: | Mollusca | 
| Class: | Cephalopoda | 
| Subclass: | Nautiloidea | 
| Superorder: | †Endoceratoidea | 
| Order: | †Endocerida Teichert, 1933 | 
| Families | |
| † Cyrtendoceratidae | |
Endocerida, from Ancient Greek ἔνδον (éndon), meaning "inside", and κέρας (kéras), meaning "horn", is an extinct nautiloid order, a group of cephalopods from the Lower Paleozoic with cone-like deposits in their siphuncle. Endocerida was a diverse group of cephalopods that lived from the Early Ordovician possibly to the Late Silurian. Their shells were variable in form. Some were straight (orthoconic), others curved (cyrtoconic); some were long (longiconic), others short (breviconic). Some long-shelled forms like Endoceras attained shell lengths close to 6 metres (20 ft). The related Cameroceras is anecdotally reported to have reached lengths approaching 9 metres (30 ft), but these claims are problematic. The overwhelming majority of endocerids and nautiloids in general are much smaller, usually less than a meter long when fully grown.