''Phytophilaspis'' is a phosphatized 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 ...

-like

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 ...

with eyes, found in association with algal remains. It dwelt in well-lit, shallow waters.

Description

''Phytophilaspis'' has several features in common with trilobites, including: tripartite division of the dorsal shield; presence of prominent

pygidium The pygidium (: 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 compos ...

; large eyes, situated on the pleural area of the

cephalon Cephalon, Inc. was an American biopharmaceutical company co-founded in 1987 by pharmacologist Frank Baldino Jr., Frank Baldino, Jr., neuroscientist Michael Lewis, and organic chemist James C. Kauer—all three former scientists with the DuPont ...

;

facial sutures Trilobites (; meaning "three-lobed entities") are extinct marine arthropods that form the class Trilobita. One of the earliest groups of arthropods to appear in the fossil record, trilobites were among the most successful of all early animals, ...

, and shape of the

hypostome In zoology, the hypostome can refer to structures in distinct animal groups: *Hypostome (trilobite), the ventral mouthpart plate in trilobites *Hypostome (tick) The hypostome (also called the maxilla, radula, or Labium (insect), labium) is a Os ...

. However, it differs from trilobites in many ways, including a reduced thorax, thoracic pleura fused to each other and to the cephalon and pygidium, facial sutures not crossing the eyes, and weak original mineralization of the cuticle. Because of these differences, ''Phytophilaspis'' was originally assigned to the

Artiopoda Artiopoda is a clade of extinct arthropods that includes trilobites and their close relatives. It was erected by Hou and Bergström in 1997 to encompass a wide diversity of arthropods that would traditionally have been assigned to the Trilobitomor ...

n subclass Concilliterga, in an undetermined

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...

and

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

. It was later considered by Bergström and Hou as a

xandarellid Xandarellida is an extinct order of artiopod arthropods known exclusively from the Middle Cambrian of China and Siberia. Morphology In terms of anatomy, xandarellids share numerous characteristics such as a natant hypostome, alongside a uniq ...

, along with '' Cindarella'', ''

Xandarella ''Xandarella'' is an extinct genus of xandarellid artiopodan known from the Cambrian of China, the type species ''Xandarella spectaculum'' was described in 1991 from the Cambrian Stage 3 aged Chengjiang Biota in China. Although an additional sp ...

'' and '' Sinoburius''. A position that was supported in subsequent studies.

References

External links

''Phytophilaspis'' occurrence data. Paleobiology DatabasePhotograph
Cambrian trilobites Fossil taxa described in 1999 Fossils of Russia Artiopoda {{paleo-arthropod-stub

Description

See also

References

External links