''Kleptothule rasmusseni'' is a small, elongated

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 ...

, about 3 cm in length, and about 5 to 6 mm in width, from the

Sirius Passet Sirius Passet is a Cambrian Lagerstätte in Peary Land, Greenland. The Sirius Passet Lagerstätte was named after the Sirius sledge patrol that operates in North Greenland. It comprises six places in Nansen Land, on the east shore of J.P. Koch F ...

Lagerstätte A Lagerstätte (, from ''Lager'' 'storage, lair' '' Stätte'' 'place'; plural ''Lagerstätten'') is a sedimentary deposit that exhibits extraordinary fossils with exceptional preservation—sometimes including preserved soft tissues. These for ...

. It is currently placed in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Nevadiidae, though this may change with further study. Its

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 ...

is composed of at least five segments, and its elongated

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 ...

is composed of 27+ segments. The 20 or so segments of the

pygidium The pygidium (plural pygidia) is the posterior body part or shield of crustaceans and some other arthropods, such as insects and the extinct trilobites. In groups other than insects, it contains the anus and, in females, the ovipositor. It is com ...

are poorly defined, as they are fused together. The original publication was in Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1995,

External links

* * Peripatus Homepage "Trilobite Origins

*https://web.archive.org/web/20070831114814/http://www.palaeos.com/Paleozoic/Cambrian/Sirius_Passet.html Redlichiida Cambrian trilobites Cambrian animals of Europe Cambrian arthropods of North America Cambrian Greenland Fossils of Greenland Sirius Passet fossils Buen Formation Fossil taxa described in 1995 {{redlichiida-stub Cambrian genus extinctions