''Fritzolenellus'' is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

from a well-known class of

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 preserve ...

marine

arthropod Arthropods ( ) are invertebrates in the phylum Arthropoda. They possess an arthropod exoskeleton, exoskeleton with a cuticle made of chitin, often Mineralization (biology), mineralised with calcium carbonate, a body with differentiated (Metam ...

s, the

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, with three known species. It lived during the early part of the Botomian stage, which lasted from approximately 524 to 518.5 million years ago. This faunal stage was part of the

Cambrian Period The Cambrian ( ) is the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 51.95 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran period 538.8 Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Ordovici ...

. ''Fritzolenellus'' occurred in parts of the

paleocontinent A paleocontinent or palaeocontinent is a distinct area of continental crust that existed as a major landmass in the geological past. There have been many different landmasses throughout Earth's time. They range in sizes; some are just a collection ...

Laurentia Laurentia or the North American craton is a large continental craton that forms the Geology of North America, ancient geological core of North America. Many times in its past, Laurentia has been a separate continent, as it is now in the form of ...

in what are now Northwestern Canada, Northwestern Scotland, and North-Greenland.

Taxonomy

''Fritzolenellus'' is the genus closest to the common ancestor of ''Mummaspis'', ''Laudonia'', the

Biceratopsinae The Biceratopsinae is an extinct subfamily of redlichiid trilobites within the family Biceratopsidae, with species of small to average size. Species belonging to this subfamily lived during the Toyonian stage (Upper ''Olenellus''-zone), 516-51 ...

and the

Bristoliinae The Bristoliinae is an extinct subfamily of trilobites, fossil marine arthropods, with species of small to average size. Species belonging to this subfamily lived during the Botomian and Toyonian stage (''Olenellus''-zone), 522-513 million years ...

. This

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

is the sister group '' Wanneria walcottana'' and of the

Holmiidae Holmiidae is a family of trilobites, that lived during the Lower Cambrian (Atdabanian). The Holmiidae is a diverse family of eight genera containing at least 17 species. It includes some of the earliest trilobites of Baltica. Holmiidae occur thro ...

Etymology

The generic name is a combination of the genus ''

Olenellus ''Olenellus'' is an extinct genus of redlichiida, redlichiid trilobites, with species of average size (about long). It lived during the Botomian and Toyonian stages of the Lower Cambrian (''Olenellus''-zone), , in what is currently North America ...

'', to which these species were originally assigned, and a reference to William Henry Fritz (1928-2009), a paleontologist who worked on olenelloid trilobites. The species names have the following derivation. *''lapworthi'' is named in honor of

Charles Lapworth Charles Lapworth Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS Fellow of the Geological Society, FGS (20 September 1842 – 13 March 1920) was a headteacher and an English geologist who pioneered faunal analysis using index fossils and identified the Ordov ...

, an English geologist who pioneered faunal analysis using

index fossils Biostratigraphy is the branch of stratigraphy which focuses on correlating and assigning relative ages of rock strata by using the fossil assemblages contained within them.Hine, Robert. "Biostratigraphy." ''Oxford Reference: Dictionary of Biology ...

and who defined the

Ordovician The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and System (geology), system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era (geology), Era, and the second of twelve periods of the Phanerozoic Eon (geology), Eon. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years f ...

. *''reticulatus'' (Latin) refers to the coarsely netted exoskeleton.

Distribution

* ''F. truemani'' was collected in the Lower Cambrian ( lower ''Olenellus''-zone) of Alberta, Canada (Mural Formation, in the talus slope immediately west of Mumm Peak, from the middle Mural Formation, 125 m above the base of that formation, just north of the

Mount Robson Provincial Park Mount Robson Provincial Park is a provincial park in the Canadian Rockies with an area of 2,249 km. The park is located entirely within British Columbia, bordering Jasper National Park in Alberta. The B.C. legislature created the park in 191 ...

boundary). It is also known from North-Greenland ( Henson Gletscher Formation). * ''F. lapworthi'' occurs in the Lower Cambrian (lower ''Olenellus''-zone) of Scotland (Allt nan Righrion, Meall a ‘Ghiubhais,

Loch Awe Loch Awe (Scottish Gaelic: ''Loch Obha''; also sometimes anglicised as Lochawe, Lochaw, or Lochow) is a large body of freshwater in Argyll and Bute, Scottish Highlands. It has also given its name to a village on its banks, variously known as Lo ...

), and from the middle Dryeran of Northeastern Greenland (Upper Bastion Formation at Albert Heim Bjerge). * ''F. reticulatus'' is found in the Lower Cambrian (Lower ''Olenellus''-zone) of Scotland (Meall a ‘Ghiubhais, Allt nan Righrion, Loch Awe).

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5505061 Cambrian trilobites Fossils of Canada Fossils of Great Britain Fossils of Greenland Paleontology in Alberta Olenelloidea