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Dikelocephalus ✝
| Description | Dikelocephalus is a genus of very large trilobites of up to 50 cm (20 in) long, that lived during the last 3 million years of the Cambrian (Sunwaptan). Their fossils are commonly found as disarticulated sclerites, in the upper Mississippi Valley (northeastern Iowa, southeastern Wisconsin, central to western Wisconsin) and in Canada (Alberta). The exoskeleton is rounded anteriorly, with the thorax and sides of the tailshield (or pygidium) slightly tapering to about ⅔× of the width across the base of the spines at the back of the headshield (or cephalon). At the side corners of the pygidium there may be triangular or hooked spines, pointing backwards, while between the spines the posterior margin is at a 30-75° angle with the lateral margin, gently convex or nearly straight. If pygidial spines are lacking, the margin is gradually rounded. The thorax has 12 segments. From Wikipedia article at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dikelocephalus, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Source Data |
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| Rank | genus | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taxonomy (GBIF) | Life : Animalia : Arthropoda : Trilobita : Asaphida : Dikelocephalidae : Dikelocephalus | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taxonomy (PBDB) | Life : Animalia : Arthropoda : Trilobita : Dikelocephalidae : Dikelocephalus | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taxonomic Status (GBIF) | accepted | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Classification (PBDB,GBIF) |
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| Scientific Name | Dikelocephalus Owen, 1852 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opinions (PBDB) |
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| Status (PBDB) | extinct | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taxon Size (PBDB) | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First Recorded Appearance | 501 - 485 Ma Cambrian | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Recorded Appearance | 499 - 485 Ma Cambrian | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Environment | marine (based on Trilobita) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Motility | fast-moving (based on Trilobita) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vision | well-developed (based on Dikelocephalidae) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Diet | carnivore (based on Trilobita) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ontogeny | molting,addition of parts (based on Trilobita) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taphonomy | low Mg calcite, chitin (based on Trilobita) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Primary Reference (PBDB) | J. J. Sepkoski, Jr. 2002. A compendium of fossil marine animal genera. Bulletins of American Paleontology 363:1-560 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wikipedia | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dikelocephalus |
Fossil Distribution
Subtaxa
| Name | Status | Common Name(s) | Fossil Occurrences | Oldest | Youngest |
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| Dicellocephalus tribulus ✝ species | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 1 | 501 Ma Cambrian | 501 Ma Cambrian | |
| Dikelocephalus bilobatus species | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Dikelocephalus brizo species | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Dikelocephalus eatoni species | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Dikelocephalus explanatus species | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Dikelocephalus gothicus species | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Dikelocephalus halli ✝ species | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | ||||
| Dikelocephalus insolitus species | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Dikelocephalus intermedius species | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Dikelocephalus iowensis species | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Dikelocephalus juvenalis species | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Dikelocephalus megalops ✝ species | listed (PBDB) | ||||
| Dikelocephalus minnesotensis ✝ species | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 4 | 501 Ma Cambrian | 499 Ma Cambrian | |
| Dikelocephalus multicinctus species | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Dikelocephalus pepinensis species | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Dikelocephalus texanus species | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Dikelocephalus tribulus species | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Dikelocephalus wasatchensis species | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
| Dikelocephalus wisconensis ✝ species | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | ||||
Obsolete Names
| Name | Source | Taxon Rank | Taxonomy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dicellocephalus Owen, 1852 | GBIF | genus | Animalia : Arthropoda : Trilobita : Asaphida : Dikelocephalidae : Dicellocephalus |
Synonymy List
| Year | Name and Author |
|---|---|
| 1852 | Dikelocephalus Owen p. 574 figs. pl. 1, fig. 1 |
| 1912 | Dicellocephalus Walcott p. 273 |
| 1994 | Dikelocephalus Hughes p. 53 |
| 2002 | Dikelocephalus Jell and Adrain p. 367 |
| 2002 | Dikelocephalus Sepkoski, Jr. |
References
Data courtesy of: PBDB: The Paleobiology Database, Creative Commons CC-BY licenced. , GBIF: the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, various licences, iDigBio, various licences, and EOL: The Encyclopedia of Life (Open Data Public Domain). Because fossils are made of minerals too!
