: Groenlandibelus rosenkrantzi from the Maastrichtian of Greenland has long been thought to constitute an early representative of spirulid coleoids. This study shows that this view must be reassessed, at least in part. A re‐investigation of the types and of material recorded subsequently has revealed that none of these specimens is conspecific with the holotype of G. rosenkrantzi. Cyrtobelus birkelundae gen. nov, sp. nov. differs from the type of G. rosenkrantzi in having lower chambers and in lacking an apically elongated sheath. The longiconic phragmocone of G. rosenkrantzi has more features in common with the presumed spirulid genus Naefia. A specimen described in detail by J. A. Jeletzky in the mid 1960s as ‘G. rosenkrantzi’ is designated holotype of C. birkelundae sp. nov., which means that internal phragmocone features are still unknown in G. rosenkrantzi. Cyrtobelus hornbyense gen. nov, sp. nov. from the Campanian of western Canada constitutes the first record of early spirulids from the northeast Pacific, being based on seventeen extraordinarily well‐preserved phragmocones. This species differs from C. birkelundae sp. nov. only in the width of the siphuncular tube. The presence of a caecum, a nacre‐less conotheca that represents the continuation of the protoconch conotheca, conothecal flaps that anchor the mural parts of the septa, and a thin investment‐like sheath are characters shared only with Recent Spirula. In particular, the unusual protoconch architecture of Cyrtobelus gen. nov. challenges a phylogenetic origin within bactritoid‐like coleoids.
Eight well-preserved cephalopod jaw fossils were discovered from the Upper Cretaceous (Santonian and Campanian) deposits of Vancouver Island, Canada, and Hokkaido, Japan. They occur individually in calcareous concretions and retain their three-dimensional architecture. Seven of them consist of a widely open outer lamella and a posteriorly projected inner lamella with a pointed rostrum. Both lamellae are made of fluorapatite, which may represent diagenetically altered chitin, and lack a calcareous element. Based on these diagnostic features, the seven jaw fossils are identified as lower jaws of the Coleoidea. Comparison with the lower jaws of modern coleoids allows us to distinguish the following new genera and species among them;Nanaimoteuthis jeletzkyiof the Order Vampyromorphida, andPaleocirroteuthis haggartiandP. pacificaof the Order Cirroctopodida. The lower jaws of these new taxa are clearly distinguished by having a much less projected inner lamella from those of modern and extinct species of the Superorder Decabrachia and the Order Octopodida. The maximum lengths of their outer lamellae (35.0-67.1 mm) are much larger than those of most modern vampyromorph and cirroctopodid species, indicating the large body size and weight of their owners. One of the other three lower jaws examined, characterized by a posteriorly extended outer lamella, may be assigned to the Octopodida. This study clearly demonstrates that large octobrachiate coleoids existed in the Late Cretaceous North Pacific.
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