''Megistaspis'' is a genus of

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 in the order

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, Di ...

and family ''

Asaphidae Asaphidae is a family of asaphid trilobites. Although the first genera originate in Upper Cambrian marine strata, the family becomes the most widely distributed and most species-rich trilobite family during the Ordovician. 754 species assigne ...

''. They lived in 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 ...

period (478-449 million years ago), from the Upper

Tremadocian The Tremadocian is the lowest stage of Ordovician. Together with the later Floian Stage it forms the Lower Ordovician Epoch. The Tremadocian lasted from to million years ago. The base of the Tremadocian is defined as the First appearance datum ...

age until the Lower Llanvim age. These

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 were a low-level

epifauna Fauna (: faunae or faunas) is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding terms for plants and fungi are ''flora'' and ''funga'', respectively. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively r ...

, fast-moving and detritivore.

Distribution

Ordovician of Australia, China, Colombia (

Serranía de la Macarena Serranía de la Macarena is an isolated mountain range located in the Meta Department, Colombia. It was named after the Virgin of Hope of Macarena. The mountains are separated by about at their northern extreme from the East Andes. The range ...

Meta Meta most commonly refers to: * Meta (prefix), a common affix and word in English ( in Greek) * Meta Platforms, an American multinational technology conglomerate (formerly ''Facebook, Inc.'') Meta or META may also refer to: Businesses * Meta (ac ...

), the Czech Republic, Iran, Norway, United States (Nevada); Arenig of Argentina, Bolivia, China, France, Norway, Sweden, United States (Montana); Dawan of China; Arenigian of Argentina.''Megistaspis''
at

Fossilworks Fossilworks was a portal which provides query, download, and analysis tools to facilitate access to the Paleobiology Database, a large relational database assembled by hundreds of paleontologists from around the world. History Fossilworks was cr ...

.org

Gallery

File:Megistaspis (Ekeraspis) hammondi.JPG, ''Megistaspis hammondi'' at the Paleontology Museum of Zurich. File:Megistaspis acuticauda.jpg, ''Megistaspis acuticauda'', gypsum replica. File:Megistaspis species trilobite.jpg, ''Megistaspis'' sp.

References

External links

* Sepkoski, Jac
Sepkoski's Online Genus Database – Trilobita
{{Taxonbar, from=Q6809114 Asaphidae Asaphida genera Ordovician trilobites of Africa Fezouata Formation fossils Ordovician trilobites of Asia Ordovician trilobites of Europe Ordovician trilobites of North America Ordovician United States Ordovician trilobites of South America Ordovician Argentina Ordovician Bolivia Ordovician Colombia Cambrian first appearances Silurian extinctions Tremadocian Fossil taxa described in 1956