noun
- extinct marine cephalopods with straight or curved shells, related to modern nautiluses
Usage: paleontology; zoology
Examples
- Nautiloids were abundant in ancient seas during the Paleozoic era.
- The museum’s fossil collection includes several well-preserved nautiloids.
- Scientists study nautiloids to understand early cephalopod evolution.
- These nautiloids had straight shells unlike their coiled modern relatives.
- Nautiloids dominated marine ecosystems before ammonoids appeared.
- The limestone formation contained numerous nautiloid fossils.