''Lepidocoleus'' is a genus of extinct armored

annelid The annelids (), also known as the segmented worms, are animals that comprise the phylum Annelida (; ). The phylum contains over 22,000 extant species, including ragworms, earthworms, and leeches. The species exist in and have adapted to vario ...

worm Worms are many different distantly related bilateria, bilateral animals that typically have a long cylindrical tube-like body, no limb (anatomy), limbs, and usually no eyes. Worms vary in size from microscopic to over in length for marine ...

in the class

Machaeridia Machaeridia may refer to: *Machaeridia (annelid), ''Machaeridia'' (annelid), a class of prehistoric worms *Machaeridia (insect), ''Machaeridia'' (insect), a genus of insects in the family Acrididae {{Taxonomy disambiguation ...

. Two notable species are ''L. caliburnus'' or the "

Excalibur Excalibur is the mythical sword of King Arthur that may possess magical powers or be associated with the rightful sovereignty of Britain. Its first reliably datable appearance is found in Geoffrey of Monmouth's ''Historia Regum Britanniae''. E ...

worm", and ''L. shurikenus'', or the "

shuriken A is a Japanese concealed weapon used by samurai or ninja or in martial arts as a hidden dagger or '' metsubushi'' to distract or misdirect. History The origins of the ''bo-shuriken'' in Japan are still unclear, despite continuing researc ...

worm". The creature had a "suit" of armor running down its body in the form of overlapping calcite crystals. This worm probably lived in shallow water reefs feeding on organic waste. It lived from the

Hirnantian The Hirnantian is the final internationally recognized stage of the Ordovician Period of the Paleozoic Era. It was of short duration, lasting about 2.1 million years, from to Ma (million years ago). The early part of the Hirnantian was char ...

of the upper

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 ...

to the

Famennian The Famennian is the later of two faunal stages in the Late Devonian epoch. The most recent estimate for its duration is that it lasted from around 371.1 to 359.3 million years ago. An earlier 2012 estimate, still used by the International Commis ...

of the

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a period (geology), geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era during the Phanerozoic eon (geology), eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian per ...

Description

The worm is tiny, only about a fraction of an inch long. The creatures had two pairs of armor plates on their body, one running the length of the skeleton, and the other on the sides of the body. Because of this, the worm probably could have rolled into a ball like a

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 ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q110251947 Prehistoric annelid genera