Large hatchling size in Cretaceous nautiloids persists across the end-Cretaceous mass extinction: New data of Hercoglossidae hatchlings

The hatchling sizes of the Cretaceous nautiloids (Hercoglossa forbesianus and Cimomia angustus; Hercoglossidae) are reported here for the first time as ranging between 20.4–22.2 mm in diameter. These new data for Hercoglossidae and the previously reported data for Nautilidae and Cymatoceratidae suggest that all Cretaceous nautiloids had large hatchlings irrespective of their taxonomy relative to those in ammonoids. Based on the relationship between hatching events and the nepionic constriction in modern nautili, the hatchling size of nautiloids can be recognized by the constriction on the shell surface of the innermost whorl. The range of hatchling diameter in all Cretaceous nautiloids (9–35 mm) is comparable to those of modern nautili (20–32 mm), although the Cretaceous nautiloids are characterized by a wider range with the smaller minimum diameter. The large hatchling size in Cretaceous nautiloids stands in marked contrast to those in ammonoids, which had much smaller hatchling size (mostly <2 mm in diameter) and became extinct at the end of the Cretaceous. Such distinct differences in reproductive strategy (i.e., hatchling and egg sizes) suggest that these differences may have played a significant role in the fate of ammonoids and nautiloids through the K/T mass extinction, as previously hypothesized by several paleontologists.