Prolecanitoidea

Prolecanitoidea is a taxonomic superfamily of ammonoids in the order Prolecanitida. Prolecanitoidea is one of two superfamilies in the order, along with the younger and more complex Medlicottioidea. The Prolecanitoidea were a low-diversity and morphologically conservative group. They lived from the Lower Carboniferous up to the Middle Permian. Their shells are generally smooth and discoidal, with a rounded lower edge, a moderate to large umbilicus, and goniatitic to ceratitic sutures. Suture complexity varies from 10 up to 22 total lobes (each side of a whorl combined); new lobes are added from subdivision of saddles adjacent to the original main umbilical lobe.

Daraelites, a Wordian daraelitid

Prolecanitoidea Temporal range: Lower Carboniferous–Middle Permian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Protocanites, a Tournaisian prolecanitid
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Cephalopoda
Subclass:	†Ammonoidea
Order:	†Prolecanitida
Superfamily:	†Prolecanitoidea Hyatt, 1884
Families
Prolecanitidae Daraelitidae
Synonyms
Prolecanitaceae

The Prolecanitoidea encompasses two related families, the ancestral Prolecanitidae (lower Tournaisian – Bashkirian? stages) and the derived Daraelitidae (Viséan – Wordian stages). Prolecanitids and daraelitids differ primarily in the complexity of the suture: Prolecanitids are simpler goniatitic forms, with rounded saddles, pointed lobes, and an undivided ventral lobe. Daraelitids, conversely, often have a trifid (three-pronged) ventral lobe and a higher number of lobes as a whole, some of which are ceratitic (finely serrated). Daraelitids are probably ancestral to Ceratitida, the dominant order of Triassic ammonoids.

A third proposed family, the Mississippian-age Prodromitidae, is occasionally also placed within the order Prolecanitida.^[1] The affinities or monophyly of this family are uncertain due to drastic changes in their suture patterns through ontogeny. More recently, prodromitids have been moved to the goniatite suborder Tornoceratina.^[2]

The Prolecanitoidea were previously known by the name Prolecanitaceae, prior to the recent ruling of the ICZN regarding superfamilies. The suffix -oidea was previously used for some time in invertebrate taxonomies as the ending for subclasses, e.g. Ammonoidea. The Medlicottioidea are also sometimes known as the suborder Prolecanitina.