''Entomolithus'' (petrified insect) is an obsolete scientific name for several

trilobite Trilobites (; meaning "three-lobed entities") are extinction, extinct marine arthropods that form the class (biology), class Trilobita. One of the earliest groups of arthropods to appear in the fossil record, trilobites were among the most succ ...

s, first published by

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

in 1753, before the starting point of

zoological nomenclature The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is a widely accepted convention in zoology that rules the formal scientific naming of organisms treated as animals. It is also informally known as the ICZN Code, for its formal author, t ...

in a list under the heading "Paradoxus: 3. Entomolithus Monoculi". This is why this first name has no formal status. After the starting point of the zoological nomenclature, the name was published again in 1759, but with a different description. Because scholars incorrectly considered ''Entomolithus'' Linnaeus, 1759 a junior homonym, it was later replaced by ''

Entomostracites ''Entomostracites'' is a scientific name for several trilobites, now assigned to various other genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organis ...

'' Wahlenberg, 1818. Although the name as published in 1759 was in fact valid, the

International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is an organization dedicated to "achieving stability and sense in the scientific naming of animals". Founded in 1895, it currently comprises 26 commissioners from 20 countries. Orga ...

decided to suppress ''Entomolithus'' Linnaeus, 1759, because this name had gone out of use for a very long time. Species originally assigned to ''Entomolithus'' have been renamed. * ''E. paradoxus'' = '' Paradoxides paradoxissimus'' * ''E. paradoxus α expansus'' = ''

Asaphus expansus ''Asaphus expansus'' () is the type species of the asaphid trilobite genus ''Asaphus''. It was previously classified as ''Entomostracites expansus'' before being split off into its own genus. Location Most specimens have been obtained in Northe ...

References

{{Set index article, animals Disused trilobite generic names