Hypostoma of agnostid trilobites

The hypostoma, which is a ventral sclerite that covers the oral region, has recently been discovered in four species of agnostid trilobites. The discovery is significant because the suborder Agnostina is the only major trilobite taxon for which the hypostoma has not been described. The agnostid hypostoma is distinctly different in shape from that of non-agnostid trilobites. Minus its wings, it is widest posteriorly, lacks border furrows, has unusually long wings, and in some species is fenestrate. It is unattached to other sclerites, and presumably was held in place beneath the anterior part of the glabella by muscle tissue. Hypostomal differences probably indicate basic differences in food or feeding habits of agnostid and non-agnostid trilobites. This, along with other evidence, suggests a major divergence in mode of life of these two trilobite groups, and should be given strong consideration in future attempts at trilobite classification.     

Enrollment in the classification of trilobites

Enrollment is not as fundamental a character complex for the classification of Trilobita as Bergstrom (1973, Fossils and Strata 2; 1977. Lethaia 10 ) has claimed. Different enrollment styles occur within accepted monophyletic taxa, which cut across Bergstrom's (1973) classification and which support the concept of the Order Proetida Fortey & Owens, 1975. False phylogenetic relationships are deduced from unjustified a prior; assumptions about the nature of primitive and derived character states.
Einrollung ist kein so grundlegendes Merkmal für die Klassifizierung der Trilobiten, wie dies Bergström (1973, Fossils and Strata 2; 1977, Lethaia 10 ) gefordert hat. Das Auftreten verschiedener Einrollungs-weisen innerhalb anerkannter monophyletischer Taxa durchkreuzt nämlich seine Klassifizierung (1973), stützt aber die der Aufstellung der Ordnung Proetida Fortey & Owens 1975 zugrundeliegende Auf-fassung. Unrichtige apriori-Antworten auf die Frage, was primitive und was sekundäre Merkmale sind, führen zu irrigen Folgerungen über phylogenetische Zusammenhänge.
L'enroulement n'est pas, pour la classification des Trilobites, un ensemble de caracteres aussi fonda-mental que Bergström(1973, Fossils and Strata 2; 1977. Lethaia 10)a bien voulu le dire. Différents styles d'enroulement sont présents chez des taxa reconnus comme monophylétiques ce qui ne correspond pas á la classification de Bergström (1973) mais vient à I'appui de I'Ordre Proetida Fortey & Owens 1975. Des distinctions a prior; et insuffisamment fondées entre caractères primitifs et caractères évolués conduisent á l'establissement de relations phylogénétiques erronées.     

Complete record of Furongian polymerid trilobites and agnostoids of Scandinavia – a biostratigraphical scheme

Terfelt, F., Ahlberg, P. & Eriksson, M.E. 2011: Complete record of Furongian polymerid trilobites and agnostoids of Scandinavia – a biostratigraphical scheme. Lethaia, Vol. 44, pp. 8–14. So far, 112 polymerid trilobite species/subspecies and 13 agnostoid species/subspecies have been recorded from the Furongian (upper Cambrian) of Scandinavia. For the first time, their zonal occurrences are summarized in a biostratigraphical scheme serving as a practical synopsis for students of this interval in time. Ninety‐six of the recorded polymerid trilobite species/subspecies belong to the family Olenidae whereas the remaining 16 are distributed across eight other families. Levels of increased speciation and low diversity (including stratigraphical range gaps) are conspicuous and these may be correlated with recorded physical and chemical anomalies. □Agnostoids, biostratigraphy, Cambrian, Furongian, polymerids, Scandinavia, trilobites.     

Mitosis: disorderly conduct at the kinetochore

Conventional models posit that microtubules bound to kinetochores act coordinately during chromosome movement. Such models need to be revised in the light of new data demonstrating uncoordinated behavior among kinetochore-associated microtubules.     

Position of the labrum in agnostid trilobites

Specimens of Peronopsis and Ptychagnostus from the House Range of western Utah provide new information on the location of the labrum (hypostoma) of agnostid trilobites. A labral position as that described here, beneath the second glabellar lobe, has two implications: (1) anomalous cephalic muscle scars described by previous workers may be interpreted as attachment areas for labral muscles; and (2) the mouth probably migrated posteriorly in agnostids. Posterior displacement of the mouth was probably one of several feeding modifications associated with a pelagic mode of life.     

Primary and diagenetic microstructures in trilobites

McAllister, John E. & Brand, Uwe 1989 01 15: Primary and diagenetic microstructures in trilobites. Lethaia , Vol. 22, pp. 101–111. Oslo. ISSN 0024–1164.
Ordovician and Devonian trilobites were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to define primary and diagenetic microstructures. Primary structures such as Osmólska cavities and hexagonal surface openings are present in samples obtained from both shale and limestone lenses in shales. Generally, samples with primary microstructures are also geochemically well preserved. Diagenetic microstructures were found in samples from shales and limestones, but those from limestones are the most geochemically and microstructurally altered. 'Dendritic' patterns and fused matrices were found in the altered cuticles of trilobites of different species and ages and are therefore considered a normal feature of the diagenetic alteration of cuticular calcite. Primary and diagenetic microstructures of trilobite cuticles are independent of size, species and age of the specimens, but are largely controlled by lithology and thus diagenesis. * Trilobita, primary-, diagenetic microstructures, fossil diagenesis .     

First African oryctocephalid trilobites from the Lower–Middle Cambrian boundary interval

Oryctocephalid trilobites from Lower Middle Cambrian strata of the eastern Anti-Atlas, Morocco, are the first described Oryctocephalidae known from Africa. They represent the new genus and species Shergoldiella vincenti. However, a similar species was earlier described as Tonkinella sequei Liñán et Gozalo, 1999, from coeval lower Middle Cambrian strata of the Iberian Chains, northern Spain. This Iberian species is imperfectly preserved and assigned herein to Shergoldiella with reservations. If this assignment is correct, it would reinforce earlier suggested correlations between Morocco and Spain. Nevertheless, Shergoldiella suggests a morphocline from a typical oryctocephalid-type morphology towards the Tonkinella-type morphology. Close similarity with Ovatoryctocara ovata suggests a similar stratigraphic position in accordance with earlier suggested intercontinental correlations.     

Phylogenetic and biogeographic analysis of sphaerexochine trilobites

Background

Sphaerexochinae is a speciose and widely distributed group of cheirurid trilobites. Their temporal range extends from the earliest Ordovician through the Silurian, and they survived the end Ordovician mass extinction event (the second largest mass extinction in Earth history). Prior to this study, the individual evolutionary relationships within the group had yet to be determined utilizing rigorous phylogenetic methods. Understanding these evolutionary relationships is important for producing a stable classification of the group, and will be useful in elucidating the effects the end Ordovician mass extinction had on the evolutionary and biogeographic history of the group.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Cladistic parsimony analysis of cheirurid trilobites assigned to the subfamily Sphaerexochinae was conducted to evaluate phylogenetic patterns and produce a hypothesis of relationship for the group. This study utilized the program TNT, and the analysis included thirty-one taxa and thirty-nine characters. The results of this analysis were then used in a Lieberman-modified Brooks Parsimony Analysis to analyze biogeographic patterns during the Ordovician-Silurian.

Conclusions/Significance

The genus Sphaerexochus was found to be monophyletic, consisting of two smaller clades (one composed entirely of Ordovician species and another composed of Silurian and Ordovician species). By contrast, the genus Kawina was found to be paraphyletic. It is a basal grade that also contains taxa formerly assigned to Cydonocephalus. Phylogenetic patterns suggest Sphaerexochinae is a relatively distinctive trilobite clade because it appears to have been largely unaffected by the end Ordovician mass extinction. Finally, the biogeographic analysis yields two major conclusions about Sphaerexochus biogeography: Bohemia and Avalonia were close enough during the Silurian to exchange taxa; and during the Ordovician there was dispersal between Eastern Laurentia and the Yangtze block (South China) and between Eastern Laurentia and Avalonia.     

Earliest Devonian phacopide trilobites from central Bolivia

An early Lochkovian trilobite faunule from the Catavi Formation, Cochabamba Department, Bolivia, includesPaciphacops waisfeldae n. sp. andKazachstania gerardoi n. sp. The latter species also occurs in the upper part of the Los Espejos Formation in the Precordillera of San Juan, Argentina, and the former is sister species toP. argentinus (Thomas 1905) from the Los Espejos Formation. South AmericanPaciphacops species are allied to North American, rather than Australian, congenerics.Kazachstania Maksimova 1972 appears to include some species previously assigned toReussiana ?najdr 1987. Records ofPaciphacops andKazachstania provide evidence that earliest Devonian trilobites of Andean South America are largely geographically widespread taxa.     

Sphaeroidal enrolment in middle Cambrian solenopleuropsine trilobites

Esteve, J., Zamora, S., Gozalo, R. & Liñán, E. 2010: Sphaeroidal enrolment in middle Cambrian solenopleuropsine trilobites. Lethaia, 10.1111/j.1502‐3931.2009.00205.x Fifty specimens belonging to species of Solenopleuropsis and Pardailhania from Spain and France demonstrate sphaeroidal enrolment in Cambrian trilobites for the first time. These solenopleuropsines show novel coaptative structures in different regions of the exoskeleton: in the cephalon there are vincular furrows and notches; in the thorax an articulating facet is developed at the pleural margins, with a ball and socket connection on the adaxial most portion, and an articulating half‐ring axially; the pygidium possesses an articulating facet. The interaction of these coaptative structures resulted in a sphaeroidal enrolment that was a progressive act from the first articulation between the occipital ring and the first segment to the pygidial articulating facet. A similar type of sphaeroidal enrolment is observed in the Devonian trilobite Phacops. Both Cambrian and Devonian trilobites developed a vincular furrow in the ventral surface of the cephalon to close their bodies tightly. In both cases, this is probably a convergent adaptation to protect against predators and obrution. Indeed, the enrolled trilobites are very common in obrution deposits restricted to shallow and soft muddy substrates. □Coaptative structures, convergence, Murero Formation, Pardailhania, Solenopleuropsinae, Solenopleuropsis.     

Heterochrony in the Silurian radiation of encrinurine trilobites

Divergence of Silurian encrinurine trilobite clades from common ancestry may be modelled as hetero-chronic pattern. Comparing ontogenies of ancestral late Ordovician Encrinuroides and the descendant punctarus and uariolaris plexi of Silurian Encrinurus provides a test of this hypothesis. Heterochrony in the punctarus plexus is dissociated with respect to entire organisms, but regionally global throughout cranidia (paedomorphic states) and pygidia (peramorphic states). Regulatory dissociation may explain the apomorphous enrollment strategy of this group. The uariolaris plexus, for which a growth series of Balizoma dimitroui (Perry & Chatterton) provides ontogenetic data, shows a complex of peramorphic cephalic character states. Changes in developmental timing thus provide a mechanism by which morphologic and ecologic divergence of closely-related clades was catalyzed in the Llandovery encrinurine radiation. Paedomorphic and dissociated Lineages of the odontopleurid Leonaspis provide a comparable example of divergent heterochronic pattern associated with coexisting (in the same biofacies) species of comparatively recent common ancestry.     

Lower Cambrian trace fossil evidence for predation on trilobites

Predation upon trilobites previously has been inferred from large coprolites containing trilobite fragments, and from specimens of trilobites with healed wounds. The discovery of large burrows ( Dolopichnus gulosus , n. ichnogen., n. ichnosp.) in micritic quartz arenite of the Lower Cambrian Poleta Formation in Esmeralda County, Nevada, suggests that sea anemones preyed upon trilobites. Dolopichnus n. ichnogen., vertical cylindrical burrows with a central cylindrical core, is interpreted as dwelling burrows of sea anemones. In the specimens studied, the core contains coarser-grained material, and in one series of burrows, is composed of trilobitc fragments and micrite pellets. cemented with sparite. The central cylinder is interpreted to be a cast of the sea anemone's coelenteron, which in some specimens contains stomach contents.     

Humble origins for a successful strategy: complete enrolment in early Cambrian olenellid trilobites

Trilobites are typified by the behavioural and morphological ability to enrol their bodies, most probably as a defence mechanism against adverse environmental conditions or predators. Although most trilobites could enrol at least partially, there is uncertainty about whether olenellids—among the most phylogenetically and stratigraphically basal representatives—could perform this behaviour because of their poorly caudalized trunk and scarcity of coaptative devices. Here, we report complete—but not encapsulating—enrolment for the olenellid genus Mummaspis from the early Cambrian Mural Formation in Alberta, the earliest direct evidence of this strategy in the fossil record of polymerid trilobites. Complete enrolment in olenellids was achieved through a combination of ancestral morphological features, and thus provides new information on the character polarity associated with this key trilobite adaptation.     

Tumulduria incomperta and the case for Tommotian trilobites

The enigmatic fossil Tumulduria incomperta Missanhevsky 1969 from the basal Tommotian Stage at 'Dvortsy' on the Aldan River, Siberian Platform, is reinvestigated in light of the report (Fedorov et al. 1979, Dokl. AN SSSR 249) of trilobite remains from the same beds. Comparisons of these supposed trilobites with old and new collections from 'Dvortsy' leave no doubt that they are identical to Tumulduria incomperta. Tumulduria is represented by phosphatic plates with a crude bilateral symmetry, consisting of a central longitudinal rounded ridge flanked by flat lateral portions. They are built of growth lamellae overlapping each other along the axis of symmetry. The surface carries prominent transverse folds and lamellar terminations. There is considerable morphological variation, and the similarity of some specimens to trilobites is only superficial. Tumulduria is interpreted as a bilaterally symmetrical metazoan with a dorsal protective plate; it probably represents a short-lived group that left no descendants.     

Kulm trilobites (Lower Carboniferous) from S-China

Some trilobite remains are described from the Lower Carboniferous/Mississippian (Tournaisian/Viséan boundary) of S-China, representing two species:Liobole (Liobole) devuysti n. sp. andLiobole (Sulcubole) xiangzhouensis n. sp.Liobole is a typical member of the central European Kulm Facies and index fossil for the Erdbachian. For the first time, twoLiobole species are recorded from outside of Europe. They demonstrate that a passage existed between Europe and East Asia across the Palaeotethys through which Kulm trilobites have occupied new geographical regions.      

A new species of trilobites from Sakmarian Reefs of Bashkortostan

The new trilobite species Cummingella (Cummingella) boikoi sp. nov. is described from the Lower Permian reef facies (Sakmarian Stage) of Bashkiria (Bashkortostan). The new findings extend the known range of the Permian genus Cummingella Reed, 1942 and provide the first record of trilobites in Sakmarian deposits of Bashkiria.