Redlichia

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Redlichia
Temporal range: Toyonian/Ordian
Redlichia chinensis 2.jpg
Redlichia chinensis
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Trilobita
Order: Redlichiida
Family: Redlichiidae
Subfamily: Redlichiinae
Genus: Redlichia
Cossmann, 1902
Type species
Hoeferia noetlingi
Redlich, 1899
Species
  • R. noetlingi(Redlich, 1899) (Type) synonym Hoeferia noetlingi
  • R. advialisÖpik, 1970
  • R. amadeanaÖpik, 1970
  • R. chinensisWalcott, 1905
  • R. cretaÖpik, 1970
  • R. endoiLu, 1950
  • R. forresti(Etheridge, 1890) synonym Olenellus forresti [1]
  • R. guizhouensisZhou, 1974
  • R. gumridgensisLaurie, 2004
  • R. idoneaWhitehouse, 1939
  • R. leptaÖpik, 1970
  • R. petitaÖpik, 1970
  • R. rexHolmes, Paterson & García-Bellido, 2019 [2]
  • R. mayalisÖpik, 1970
  • R. micrograptaÖpik, 1970
  • R. takooensis Lu, 1950 [3]
  • R. venulosa(Whitehouse, 1939) synonym Mesodema venulosa
  • R. versabundaÖpik, 1970
  • R. vertumniaÖpik, 1970
Synonyms

HoeferiaRedlich, 1899 non Bittner, 1894
MesodemaWhitehouse, 1939
DongshaniaLin in Qiu et al., 1983
SpinoredlichiaLiu, 1975

Contents

Redlichia is a genus of redlichiid trilobite in the family Redlichiidae, with large to very large species (up to 35 centimetres or 14 inches long). Fossils of various species are found in Lower Cambrian (Toyonian)-aged marine strata from China, Korea, Pakistan, the Himalayas, Iran, Spain, southern Siberia, and Antarctica, and from Middle Cambrian (Ordian)-aged marine strata of Australia.

Description

Redlichia has a rather flat and thinly calcified dorsal exoskeleton of inverted egg-shaped outline, about 1½× longer than wide, measured across the base of the genal spines and disregarding the spine on the 11th segment of the articulated middle part of the body (or thorax). The headshield (or cephalon) is semicircular, about ⅓× as long as the body, with clear genal spines that are a smooth continuation of the border, that extend backward and outward and curving to be near parallel near their tips, which typically extend to the backhalf of the articulated middle part of the body (or thorax). The thorax consists of 11-17 segments, with the 11th from the front bearing a backward directed spine on the midline.

Taxonomy

Redlich originally named the genus Hoeferia in 1899. It turned out however, that this name was already given to an arcid bivalve by Bittner in 1894, rendering it an unavailable junior homonym. This is why in 1902, Cossmann renamed HoeferiaRedlich, 1899 as Redlichia, in honor of Redlich.

MesodemaWhitehouse, 1939, DongshaniaLin in Qiu et al., 1983, and SpinoredlichiaLiu, 1975, are all considered to be synonyms of Redlichia. [4]

Notable species

Comparison of the redlichiid trilobites, Redlichia rex (larger), and R. takooensis, from the Lower Cambrian Kangaroo Island, Australia Redlichia rex.jpg
Comparison of the redlichiid trilobites, Redlichia rex (larger), and R. takooensis, from the Lower Cambrian Kangaroo Island, Australia

The type species, R. noetlingi, is found in Lower Cambrian-aged marine strata of Western Pakistan. A similar species, R. chinensis, is found in Lower Cambrian-aged marine strata of China. R. nobilis, is found in Lower Cambrian-aged marine strata of South Korea. It was originally thought that the Kangaroo Island species, R. takooensis, had a small form and a large form: more thorough studies have concluded that the "large morph" is a distinct, carnivorous, possibly cannibalistic species now named R. rex. [2] [5]

Reassigned species

Some of the species that were originally assigned to Redlichia were later moved to other genera.

Related Research Articles

Redlichiida Extinct order of trilobites

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.

Emuellidae Extinct family of trilobites

Emuellidae are a small family of trilobites, a group of extinct marine arthropods, that lived during the late Lower Cambrian of the East Gondwana supercontinent, in what are today South-Australia and Antarctica. Emuellidae can be recognized among trilobites in having a set of unique features. The headshield or cephalon has large genal spines reaching back as far as the 3rd to 6th segment of the thorax. The eye-ridges contact the back of the frontal lobe of the glabella and extend laterally and backwards, roughly parallel to the frontal and lateral rim of the cephalon. There are small, clearly incised pits at the junction between the eye-ridge and the frontal lobe of the cephalic axis. The thorax reaches its greatest width at the 6th segment. The frontal part or prothorax consists of 6 segments, with number 5 and 6 fused, and the 6th carrying very large trailing spines. The rear part or opistothorax consists of a variable but extremely large number of segments.

<i>Emuella</i> Extinct genus of trilobites

Emuella is a genus of trilobites of the family Emuellidae. Its fossils have been found in South Australia. It can be recognised by touching glabella and frontal border, and the sub-pentagonal head, as compared to, a short field between the front of the axis in the head or glabella and the border ridge, and a semi-circular headsheald in the sister-genus Balcoracania. Both emuellid genera share eye ridges that are positioned parallel to the frontal and lateral border of the head, prominent genal spines that are a smooth continuation of the lateral margin of the head, a prothorax of 6 segments, with the 5th and 6th merged and carrying large trailing spines. Both genera have in adulthood a highly variable but large number of segments of the opistothorax, although the largest number found in B. dailyi with 97 is much larger than in Emuella (52).

<i>Redlichia takooensis</i> Extinct species of trilobite

Redlichia takooensis is a species of redlichiid trilobite from the lower Cambrian-aged Emu Shale of Kangaroo Island, Australia.

<i>Estaingia bilobata</i>

Estaingia bilobata is a species of trilobite from the lower Cambrian period. Their fossils are found chiefly in Australia.

Redlichiina Extinct suborder of trilobites

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.

Emuelloidea Extinct superfamily of trilobites

Emuelloidae are a small superfamily of trilobites, a group of extinct marine arthropods, that lived during the late Lower Cambrian of the East Gondwana supercontinent, in what are today South-Australia and Antarctica. Emuelloidea can be recognized by having a prothorax consisting of 3 or 6 segments, the most backward one of which is carrying very large trailing spines. Behind it is the so-called opistothorax. There are two families, the Emuellidae and the Megapharanaspididae.

<i>Kootenia</i> Extinct genus of trilobites

Kootenia is a genus of trilobites of the family Dorypygidae. 118 specimens of Kootenia are known from the Greater Phyllopod bed, where they comprise 0.22% of the community. Its major characteristics are that of the closely related Olenoides, including medium size, a large glabella, and a medium-sized pygidium, but also a lack of the strong interpleural furrows on the pygidium that Olenoides has.

Emu Bay Shale Geological formation in South Australia

The Emu Bay Shale is a geological formation in Emu Bay, South Australia, containing a major Konservat-Lagerstätte. 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.

<i>Anomalocaris</i> Extinct genus of anomalocaridid (also extinct)

Anomalocaris is an extinct genus of radiodont, an order of early-diverging stem-group arthropods. The first fossils of Anomalocaris were discovered in the Ogygopsis Shale by Joseph Frederick Whiteaves, with more examples found by Charles Doolittle Walcott in the Burgess Shale. Originally several fossilized parts discovered separately were thought to be three separate creatures, a misapprehension corrected by Harry B. Whittington and Derek Briggs in a 1985 journal article. With a body length of 50 centimetres in A. canadensis, Anomalocaris is thought to be one of the earliest examples of an apex predator, though others have been found in older Cambrian lagerstätten deposits.

<i>Holyoakia</i> Genus of trilobites

Holyoakia is a genus of very small trilobites of the family Dorypygidae, from the late Lower Cambrian of South Australia and Antarctica.

Lemdadella is an extinct genus of redlichiid trilobites that lived during the late Atdabanian stage, which lasted from 521 to 514 million years ago during the early part of the Cambrian Period.

<i>Panlongia</i>

Panlongia was a small-sized marine arthropod, with an oval-shaped non-calcified exoskeleton. Both the head shield and the tail shield are semi-circular. In between the cephalon and pygidium are four thoracic body segments (somites). The cephalon occupies approximately ⅓ of the body length, the thorax ¼ and pygidium about 45%. Panlongia lived during the late Lower Cambrian (Botomian) in what is today South China. In Panlongia spinosa the edge of the exoskeleton carries several small sawtooth-like spines, that are absent in P. tetranodusa.

<i>Tegopelte</i> Extinct genus of arthropods

Tegopelte gigas is a species of large soft-bodied arthropod known from two specimens from the Burgess Shale. Trackways that may have been produced by this organism or a close relative are known from the Kicking Horse Shale, stratigraphically below its body fossil occurrences. T. gigas is the only species classified under the genus Tegopelte. It is usually classified under its own family Tegopeltidae, but is sometimes placed under the family Naraoiidae. It is currently considered a member of Conciliterga within the Artiopoda.

<i>Buenaspis</i> Small cambrian anthropod

Buenaspis is a genus of small marine arthropods in the family Liwiidae, that lived during the early Cambrian period. Fossil remains of Buenaspis were collected from the Lower Cambrian Sirius Passet Lagerstätte of North Greenland. Buenaspis looks like a soft eyeless trilobite. It has a headshield slightly larger than the tailshield (pygidium), and in between them six thoracic body segments (somites). The genus is monotypic, its sole species being Buenaspis forteyi.

Emucarididae Extinct family of arthropods

Emucarididae is an extinct family of soft-shelled trilobite-like arthropods (nektaspids) from the Lower Cambrian of South Australia and South China. It contains only two genera – Emucaris and Kangacaris. Two species were described in 2010 from specimens recovered from Emu Bay Shale Lagerstätte, one species in 2012 from the Maotianshan Shales. It is classified under the order Nektaspida, and is a sister-group to the families Liwiidae and Naraoiidae.

<i>Emucaris</i> Extinct genus of arthropods

Emucaris fava is an extinct species of soft-shelled trilobite-like arthropod of the nektaspid order from the Lower Cambrian of South Australia. It is the only species classified under the genus Emucaris.

<i>Kangacaris</i> Extinct genus of arthropods

Kangacaris is an extinct genus of soft-shelled trilobite-like arthropod of the nektaspid order from the Lower Cambrian (Botomian). K. zhangi is known from South Australia, and K. shui from South-West China.

<i>Pseudonaraoia</i>

Pseudonaraoia is a genus of small marine arthropods within the family Naraoiidae, that lived during the late Middle Ordovician period. The only species presently known is Pseudonaraoia hammanni.

Megapharanaspis nedini is a small trilobite of the superfamily Emuelloidea, within which it occupies a family on its own. Its fossils have been found in the Lower Cambrian of South-Australia.

References

  1. Glauert, L. "Determination of the exact localities where Cambrian fossils were collected by E.T. Hardman in 1884" (PDF). Records of the Western Australian Museaum and Art Gallery. 1 (2): 66–72.
  2. 1 2 James D. Holmes; John R. Paterson; Diego C. García-Bellido (2019). "The trilobite Redlichia from the lower Cambrian Emu Bay Shale Konservat-Lagerstätte of South Australia: systematics, ontogeny and soft-part anatomy". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 18 (4): 295–334. doi:10.1080/14772019.2019.1605411. S2CID   196651681.
  3. Paterson, R.J.; Jago, J.B. (2006). "New trilobites from the Lower Cambrian Emu Bay Shale Lagerstätte at Big Gully, Kangaroo Island, South Australia". Memoirs of the Association of Australasian Palaeontologists. 32: 43–57. hdl:1959.14/10651. ISSN   0810-8889.
  4. Mikko Haaramo. "Mikko's Phylogeny Archive". Archived from the original on 27 December 2012. Retrieved 6 November 2012.
  5. Bicknell, Russell D.C.; Holmes, James D.; Pates, Stephen; García-Bellido, Diego C.; Paterson, John R. (2022). "Cambrian carnage: Trilobite predator-prey interactions in the Emu Bay Shale of South Australia". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 591: 110877. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2022.110877.

Further reading