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 number of functional gnathobases on the cephalon is unknown. That
four endopodites were present on one side is shown pretty clearly
by specimen 58591 (pl. 16, fig. 3) and while no more than two well
preserved exopodites have been seen on a side, there probably were
four. Specimen 65513 (pl. 16, fig. 1) shows gnathobases on the second
and third appendages of that individual as preserved, but there is
no positive evidence that these are really the second and third
appendages, for they are obviously displaced. The hypostoma of
Neolenus is narrow but long, several specimens showing that it
extended back to the horizon of the outer ends of the last pair of
glabellar furrows. It is not as wide as the axial lobe, so that, while
gnathobases attached beneath the first pair of furrows would probably
not reach back to the posterior end of the hypostoma, they might lie
parallel to it and not extend beneath. It seems possible, then, that
there were four pairs of endobases but that the second rather than the
first pair served as mandibles, as seems to be the case in Ceraurus.
_Thorax._
The thorax of _Neolenus_ consists of seven segments, and the
appendages are well shown (pl. 17, fig. 1; pl. 18, figs. 1, 2; pl. 20,
fig. 1.), The endopodites of successive segments vary but little,
all are slender but compact, and consist of a long coxopodite with
six short, rather broad segments beyond it. In the figures, the
endopodites extend some distance in a horizontal direction beyond the
edges of the dorsal test, as many as four segments being in some cases
visible, but measurements show that the appendages tended to fall
outward on decay of the animal. The dactylopodites are provided
with terminal spines as in _Triarthrus_. The coxopodites are long,
straight, and slender. They are well shown on only one specimen (pl.
18), where they are seen to be as wide as the basipodite, and the
endobases are set with spines on the posterior and inner margins. They
are so long that those on opposite sides must have almost met on the
median line. The segments of the endopodites are mostly but little,
if any, longer than broad, and at the distal end each shows two or
more spines. The propodite and dactylopodite are notably more slender
than the others. The exopodites of the thorax are broad and flat, and
each shaft has two distinct parts with different kinds of setæ. The
posterior edge of the proximal lobe is fringed with a slender, flat,
overlapping hairs which are a little longer than the width of the
lobe, and stand at an angle of about 60 degrees with the direction of
the axis of the appendage. The outer lobe is at an angle with the main
one, and has short, very fine setæ oh the margin. One or two specimens
show some evidence of a joint between the inner and outer lobes,
but in the great majority of cases they seem to be continuous; if
originally in two segments, they have become firmly united. The
exopodites of the thorax, like those of the cephalon, are directed
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