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 thoracic appendages are the best preserved of any, and show the
large coxopodites and the more slender endopodites which do not extend
to the outer margin of the test. The latter extend forward and outward
for about one half their length, then turn backward in a graceful
curve.
Walcott's figure in Science shows hair-like markings on the under
side of the right half of the thorax. These were interpreted by both
Walcott and Beecher as fringes of the exopodites, but since the
setæ of those organs on all other trilobites are always above the
endopodites, while these are represented as below them, it would seem
doubtful if this interpretation can be sustained. Furthermore, I find
no trace of them on either cast or mould, and the actual specimen does
not now show them.
_Pygidium._
The coxopodites and endopodites of the pygidium seem to be similar
to those on the thorax, but both are shorter and more slender, and
the former decrease in length rapidly toward the posterior end. As
mentioned above, it is not perfectly plain how many appendages are
present, but I have accepted Doctor Walcott's count of sixteen pairs.
Of the endopodites only the barest traces are seen, and of exopodites
nothing.
One point of considerable interest in this specimen is the thickness,
as it probably gives some measure of the space occupied by the animal.
In _Triarthrus_ and other trilobites from Rome, New York, the
appendages are pressed directly against the dorsal test, but in this
specimen a considerable space intervenes between the plane of the
appendages and the shell. Between the central furrow and the inner
surface of the dorsal test at the anterior end of the thorax is a
distance of 13 mm. and under the dorsal furrows the thickness is about
7 or 8 mm., no accurate measurement being possible in the present
state of the specimen.
_Measurements:_ Length of specimen on median line, 121 mm.; probable
original length, about 195 mm. (Walcott's restoration). Length of
thorax, 58 mm.[1] Width of axial lobe at the first thoracic segment,
45 mm.; total width as preserved, 92 mm.; width as estimated from the
mould of the ventral surface, no mm.; Walcott's restoration, 105 mm.
[Footnote 1: If this specimen had the same proportions as specimens of
_Isotelus maximus_ from Toronto, the total length would be only 174
mm. The cephalon would be about 52 mm. long, the thorax 58 mm., and
the pygidium about 64 mm. long.]
Length of coxopodite of fourth left cephalic appendage, about 18 mm.;
diameter, about 2.5 mm. Length of coxopodite of last left cephalic
appendage, about 18.5 mm. Distance apart of inner ends of gnathobases
of fourth cephalic appendages, about 4 mm. Distance apart of inner
ends of endobases of first thoracic segment, about 6 mm. Distance
apart of outer ends of coxopodites of first thoracic segment, about 43
mm.
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