The Appendages, Anatomy, and Relationships of TrilobitesRaymond, Percy E. (Percy Edward)
Science
The Appendages, Anatomy, and Relationships of Trilobites
Raymond, Percy E. (Percy Edward)
Trilobites
The individual lenses are comparatively large, distinct from one
another, each lying in its own socket. There is, however, a thin
membrane, which covers all those in any one aggregate, and is a
continuation of the general integument of the body. This membrane
is continued as a thickened infolding which forms the sockets of
the lenses.
Such eyes are known in the Phacopidæ only.
III. Stemmata and ocelli.
The stemmata are present only in _Harpes_, where there may be on
the summit of the cheek two or three ocelli lying near one another.
Each, viewed from above, is nearly circular in outline, almost
hemispheric, glossy and shining. In section they prove to be convex
above and flat or slightly concave beneath. The test covers and
separates them, as in the case of the aggregate eyes.
The ocelli of the Trinucleidæ and _Eoharpes_ are smaller, and the
detailed structure not yet investigated.
Lindstroem concludes that so far as its facets or lenses are
concerned, the eye of the trilobite shows the greatest analogy with
the Isopoda, and the least with _Limulus_.
SUMMARY.
The simplest eyes found among the Trilobita are the ocelli. These
consist of a Simple thickening of the test to form a convex surface
capable of concentrating light. The similarity in position of the
paired ocelli of trilobites and the simple eyes of copepods has
perhaps a significance.
The schizochroal eyes may well be compared with the aggregate eyes of
the chilopods and scorpions. The mere presence of a common external
covering is not sufficient to prove this a true compound eye,
especially as the covering is merely a continuation of the general
test.
The holochroal eyes are of two kinds, one with plano-convex and one
with biconvex lenses. The latter would seem to be mechanically the
more perfect of the two, and it is worthy of note that the trilobites
possessing the biconvex lenses have, in general, much smaller eyes
than those with the other type.
If, as some investigators claim, the parietal eye of Crustacea
originates by the fusion of two lateral ocelli, trilobites show a
primitive condition in lacking this eye, which may have originated
through the migration toward the median line of ocelli like those of
the Trinucleidæ.
SEX.
That the sexes were separate in the Trilobita there can be very little
doubt, but the study of the appendages has as yet revealed nothing in
the way of sexual differences. One of the most important points still
to be determined is the location of the genital openings.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account