tentaculita

{{Short description|Extinct class of uncertain affiliation}}

{{For|a group of comb jellies|Tentaculata}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = {{fossil range|Ordovician|Middle Jurassic}}Early Ordovician to Middle Jurassic (Vinn 2010)

| image = TentaculitidDevonian.jpg

| image_caption = Tentaculitids from the Devonian of Maryland.

| taxon = Tentaculita

| authority = Boucek, 1964

| subdivision_ranks = Taxa of uncertain placement

| subdivision =

• Anticalyptraea{{cite journal|author= O. Vinn, M. Isakar|date=2007|title= The tentaculitid affinities of Anticalyptraea from the Silurian of Baltoscandia|journal=Palaeontology|volume=50|pages=1385–1390|doi=10.1111/j.1475-4983.2007.00715.x|doi-access=free}}
• ChonioconaridaN. M. Farsan. 1994. Tentaculiten: Ontogenese, Systematik, Phylogenese, Biostratonomie und Morphologie 547:1-128
• Cornulitida{{cite journal|author=O. Vinn, M.-A. Motus|date=2008|title=The earliest endosymbiotic mineralized tubeworms from the Silurian of Podolia, Ukraine|journal=Journal of Paleontology|volume=82|issue=2|doi= 10.1666/07-056.1}}
• Dacryoconarida
• Microconchida{{cite journal|author=M. Zatoń, H. Hagdorn, T. Borszcz|date=2013|title=Microconchids of the species Microconchus valvatus (Münster in Goldfuss, 1831) from the Upper Muschelkalk (Middle Triassic) of Germany|journal=Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments|volume=94|issue=3|doi=10.1007/s12549-013-0128-6|doi-access=free}}
• Tentaculitida

}}

Tentaculita is an extinct class of lophophorates ranging from the Early Ordovician to the Middle Jurassic. They were suspension feeders with a near worldwide distribution. For a more thorough discussion, see Tentaculites.

The presence of perforate septa and "septal necks" has been used to argue for a cephalopod affinity, whereas the shell microstructure, notably the presence of punctae, points to a brachiopod relationship,{{Cite journal | doi=10.1111/j.1502-3931.1990.tb01455.x |title = Shell structure and affinity of vermiform 'gastropods'|journal = Lethaia|volume = 23|issue = 3|pages = 297–309|year = 1990|last1 = Weedon|first1 = Michael J.}} and preserved musculature suggests a relationship with bryozoans.{{cite journal | last=Vinn | first=Olev | last2=Hambardzumyan | first2=Tamara | last3=Temereva | first3=Elena | last4=Grigoryan | first4=Arayik | last5=Tsatryan | first5=Meline | last6=Harutyunyan | first6=Lusine | last7=Asatryan | first7=Karine | last8=Serobyan | first8=Vahram | title=Fossilized soft tissues in tentaculitids from the Upper Devonian of Armenia: Towards solving the mystery of their phylogenetic affinities | journal=Palaeoworld | date=2024 | doi=10.1016/j.palwor.2024.10.004}}