> Dick Petit has found the earliest mention of Pleuroceratidae seems to be in
> Pchelintsev (1953), where it is attributed to Paul Fischer. Although the
> text is in Russian, making it undecipherable to most of us, that attribution
> and the context clearly indicate that the usage was either an invalid
> emendation (spelling correction) or a subsequent misspelling of Fischer's
> taxon. Thus we can discard our cephalopod hypothesis as the basis for
> Pchelintsev's initiative.

(This would be the earliest mention of Pleuroceratidae
Pchelintsev-Dall's use of Pleuroceratidae in the first Wagner Free
Institute volume seems to be the first use of the name anywhere).

> Here's a poser: In the future, can someone (John Doe) who wants to elevate
> the cephalopod genus Pleuroceras Hyatt, 1874 (possibly with related genera)
> to familial rank use the name Pleuroceratidae without risk of creating a
> junior homonym? My read of Article 33 of the Code indicates: (1) If
> Pchelintsev name was an unjustified emendation, it is an available name
> (33.2.3), and Pleuroceratidae Doe would not be available, however (2), if
> Pchelintsev's action was a simple misspelling (33.3), then Pleuroceratidae
> Pchelintsev, 1953 is not available and Pleuroceratidae Doe is available and
> free from that particular instance of potential homonymy.

Pleuroceratidae as a gastropod seems to be an incorrect attempt at
correcting the latinization of Pleuroceridae.  As such, I think it is
an incorrect spelling-to be corrected and without nomenclatural
standing.

All but one of the hits for "Pleuroceratidae ammonite" I checked are
selling or else have bought Russian heteromorphs, "Audoliceras".  Both
this genus name and the assignment to Pleuroceratidae seem on a Google
search to largely be confined to this commercial usage.  Pleuroceras
seems to be securely in Amaltheidae, without obvious connection to
"Audoliceras".

--
Dr. David Campbell
425 Scientific Collections
University of Alabama
"I think of my happy condition, surrounded by acres of clams"

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