Agnostida is an order of arthropod which first developed near the end of the Early Cambrian period and thrived during the Middle Cambrian. They are present in the Lower Cambrian fossil record along with trilobites from the Redlichiida, Corynexochida, and Ptychopariida orders. The last agnostids went extinct in the Late Ordovician.
The Ordovician is a geologic period and system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era. The Ordovician spans 41.2 million years from the end of the Cambrian Period 485.4 million years ago (Mya) to the start of the Silurian Period 443.8 Mya.
Redlichiida is an order of trilobites, a group of extinct marine arthropods. Species assigned to the order Redlichiida are among the first trilobites to appear in the fossil record, about halfway during the Lower Cambrian. Due to the difficulty to relate sediments in different areas, there remains some discussion, but among the earliest are Fallotaspis, and Lemdadella, both belonging to this order. The first representatives of the orders Corynexochida and Ptychopariida also appear very early on and may prove to be even earlier than any redlichiid species. In terms of anatomical comparison, the earliest redlichiid species are probably ancestral to all other trilobite orders and share many primitive characters. The last redlichiid trilobites died out before the end of the Middle Cambrian.
Phacops rana is a species of trilobite from the middle Devonian period. Their fossils are found chiefly in the northeastern United States, southwestern Ontario, and in Morocco.
Redlichiina is a suborder of the order Redlichiida of Trilobites. The suborder contains three superfamilies: Emuelloidea, Redlichioidea and Paradoxidoidea. These trilobites are some of the oldest trilobites known. They originated at the beginning of the Cambrian Period and disappeared at the end of the middle Cambrian.
The Emu Bay Shale is a geological formation in Emu Bay, South Australia, containing a major Konservat-Lagerstätten. It is one of two in the world containing Redlichiidan trilobites. The Emu Bay Shale is dated as Cambrian Series 2, Stage 4, correlated with the upper Botomian Stage of the Lower Cambrian.
Arachnomorpha is a subdivision or clade of Arthropoda, comprising the monophyletic group formed by the trilobites, other great appendage arthropods and trilobite-like families, and a diverse sister clade including the chelicerates. Great debate is held on the position of the Pycnogonida, which are currently thought not to be placed in the immediate vicinity of the Chelicerata. Arachnomorpha are considered the sister group to the crustaceans, which are increasingly being accepted as members of the mandibulate clade.
Cheirurus is a genus of phacopid trilobites that lived from the Late Cambrian to the Middle Devonian. Its remains have been found in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America. Cheirurus is the type genus of Cheiruridae.
Aegrotocatellus is a genus of trilobite in the order Phacopida, which existed in what is now Nunavut, Canada. It was named by Adrain and Edgecombe in 1995, and the type species is Aegrotocatellus jaggeri, a species named after British musician Mick Jagger.
Cybelopsis is a trilobite in the order Phacopida, that existed during the lower Ordovician in what is now Greenland. It was described by Poulsen in 1927, and the type species is Cybelopsis speciosa. The type locality for the genus was the Nunatami Formation.
Holochroal eyes are compound eyes with many tiny lenses. They are the oldest and most common type of trilobite eye, and found in all orders of trilobite from the Cambrian to the Permian periods. Lenses covered a curved, kidney-shaped visual surface in a hexagonal close packing system, with a single corneal membrane covering all lenses. Unlike in schizochroal eyes, adjacent lenses were in direct contact with one another. Lens shape generally depended on cuticle thickness. The lenses of trilobites with thin cuticles were thin and biconvex, whereas those with thick cuticles had thick lenses, which in extreme cases, could be thick columns with the outer surface flattened and the inner surface hemispherical. Regardless of lens thickness, however, the point at which light was focused was roughly the same distance below the lens.
The Walcott–Rust quarry is an excellent example of an obrution Lagerstätte. Unique preservation of trilobite appendages resulted from early consolidation (cementation) of the surrounding rock, followed by spar filling of the interior cavity within the appendages. The presence of so many well preserved trilobites in one location alone qualifies the beds as an exceptional trilobite site, but the beds are further distinguished as the source of the first trilobites for which appendages were definitively described.
The cephalon is the head section of an arthropod. It is a tagma, i.e., a specialized grouping of arthropod segments. The word cephalon derives from the Greek κεφαλή (kephalē), meaning "head".
The hypostome is the hard mouthpart of trilobites found on the ventral side of the cephalon (head). The hypostome can be classified into three types based on whether they are permanently attached to the rostrum or not and whether they are aligned to the anterior dorsal tip of the glabella.
Bumastus is an extinct genus of corynexochid trilobites which existed from the Early Ordovician period to the Late Silurian period. They were relatively large trilobites, reaching a length of 6 in (15 cm). They were distinctive for their highly globular, smooth-surfaced exoskeleton. They possessed well-developed, large compound eyes and were believed to have dwelled in shallow-water sediments in life.
The Terreneuvian is the lowermost and oldest series of the Cambrian geological system. Its base is defined by the first appearance datum of the trace fossil Treptichnus pedum around 541 million years ago. Its top is defined as the first appearance of trilobites in the stratigraphic record around 521 million years ago. This series was formally ratified by the International Commission on Stratigraphy in 2012.
Eodiscina is a suborder of trilobites, a well known group of marine arthropods. The Eodiscina first developed near the end of the Lower Cambrian period and became extinct at the end of the Middle Cambrian. They are small or very small, and have a thorax of two or three segments. Eodiscina includes six families classified under one superfamily, Eodiscoidea.
A trilobite is a type of extinct marine arthropod.
