Ptychopariida is a large, heterogeneous order of
trilobite
Trilobites (; meaning "three lobes") are extinct marine arthropods that form the class Trilobita. Trilobites form one of the earliest-known groups of arthropods. The first appearance of trilobites in the fossil record defines the base of the ...
containing some of the most primitive species known. The earliest species occurred in the second half of the Lower
Cambrian
The Cambrian Period ( ; sometimes symbolized Ꞓ) was the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and of the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 53.4 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran Period 538.8 million years ago ...
, and the last species did not survive the
Ordovician–Silurian extinction event
The Late Ordovician mass extinction (LOME), sometimes known as the end-Ordovician mass extinction or the Ordovician-Silurian extinction, is the first of the "big five" major mass extinction events in Earth's history, occurring roughly 443 Mya. It ...
.
Trilobites have
facial sutures that run along the margin of the
glabella
The glabella, in humans, is the area of skin between the eyebrows and above the nose. The term also refers to the underlying bone that is slightly depressed, and joins the two brow ridges. It is a cephalometric landmark that is just superior t ...
and/or fixigena to the shoulder point where the
cephalon
Cephalon, Inc. was an American biopharmaceutical company co-founded in 1987 by pharmacologist Frank Baldino, Jr., neuroscientist Michael Lewis, and organic chemist James C. Kauer—all three former scientists with the DuPont Company. Baldino s ...
meets the
thorax
The thorax or chest is a part of the anatomy of humans, mammals, and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main divisions of the c ...
. These sutures outline the cranidium, or the main, central part of the head that does not include the librigena (free cheeks). The eyes are medial along the glabella on the suture line (and some species have no eyes). The
fossil
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...
s of the
moults of trilobites can often be told from the fossils of the actual animals by whether the librigena are present. (The librigena, or cheek spines, detach during moulting.) In ptychopariids, short bladelike genal spines are often present on the tips of the librigena.
The thorax is large and is typically made up of eight or more segments. The thorax is usually much longer than the
pygidium, which is usually small. In some species the pygidium is outlined with a flat border.
The Subclass Librostoma was recently erected to encompass several related orders, including Ptychopariida,
Asaphida
Asaphida is a large, morphologically diverse order of trilobites found in marine strata dated from the Middle Cambrian until their extinction during the Silurian. Asaphida contains six superfamilies (Anomocaroidea, Asaphoidea, Cyclopygoidea, ...
,
Proetida,
Harpetida
Harpetida is one of the eleven orders of the extinct arthropod class Trilobita. The first harpetid trilobites appear in the Upper Cambrian, and the last species die out at the end of the Devonian period.
Harpetid trilobites are characterized am ...
, and possibly
Phacopida. These are now known as the "Librostome Orders". Trilobites of the orders Proetida, Harpetida, and of the family
Damesellidae were originally placed in Ptychopariida.
Taxonomy
Suborder
Olenina
*Superfamily
Olenoidea
**Family
Ellipsocephaloididae
**Family
Olenidae
*Superfamily ''Incertae sedis''
**Genus ''
Triarthrus''
Suborder
Ptychopariina
*Superfamily
Ellipsocephaloidea
**Family
Agraulidae
**Family
Aldonaiidae
**Family
Bigotinidae
**Family
Chengkouiidae
**Family
Ellipsocephalidae
**Family
Estaingiidae
**Family
Palaeolenidae
**Family
Yunnanocephalidae
*Superfamily
Ptychoparioidea
**Family
Acrocephalitidae
**Family
Alokistocaridae
**Family
Antagmidae
**Family
Asaphiscidae
**Family
Atopidae
**Family
Bolaspididae
**Family
Cedariidae
**Family
Changshaniidae
**Family
Conocoryphidae
**Family
Conokephalinidae
**Family
Crepicephalidae
**Family
Diceratocephalidae
**Family
Elviniidae
**Family
Eulomidae
**Family
Holocephalinidae
**Family
Ignotogregatidae
**Family
Inouyiidae
**Family
Isocolidae
**Family
Kingstoniidae
**Family
Liostracinidae
**Family
Llanoaspididae
**Family
Lonchocephalidae
**Family
Lorenzellidae
**Family
Mapaniidae
**Family
Marjumiidae
**Family
Menomoniidae
**Family
Nepeidae
**Family
Norwoodiidae
**Family
Papyriaspididae
**Family
Phylacteridae
**Family
Proasaphiscidae
**Family
Ptychopariidae
**Family
Shumardiidae
**Family
Solenopleuridae
**Family
Tricrepicephalidae
**Family
Utiidae
**Family
Wuaniidae
*Superfamily ''Incertae sedis''
**Genus ''
Tonopahella''
Suborder ''incertae sedis''
*Family
Avoninidae
*Family
Catillicephalidae
*Family
Ityophoridae
*Family
Plethopeltidae
See also
*''
Cambroproteus''
*''
Meniscopsia''
References
Order PtychopariidaBy Sam Gon III
Trilobite orders
Cambrian first appearances
Late Ordovician extinctions
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