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
In _Calymene_ the shape of the hypostoma bears little relation to the
shape of the glabella, and it is relatively smaller, both shorter and
narrower, than in Ceraurus. In shape, neglecting the side lappets at
the front, it is somewhat rectangular, but rounded at the back, where
it is bifurcated by a shallow notch. The anterior edge has a narrow
flange all across, which is turned at almost right angles to the plane
of the appendage, and which fits against the doublure of the free
cheeks at the sides and against the epistoma in the middle. The side
lappets show on their inner (upper) surface shallow pits, one on each
lappet, which fit over projections that on the dorsal surface show as
deep pits in the bottom of the dorsal furrows in front of the anterior
glabellar furrows. The appendifers on the head in _Calymene_ take the
form of curving projections of shell underneath the glabellar and neck
furrows, and owing to the narrowness of the hypostoma, all these are
visible from the ventral side, even with it in position. This shield
extends back about 0.6 of the length of the cephalon, and to a point
a little behind the second glabellar furrow from the back of the head.
In Doctor Walcott's restoration of _Calymene_ he has represented
all four pairs of biramous appendages as articulating back of the
posterior end of the hypostoma. I think his sections indicate that
the gnathobases of two pairs of these appendages rested alongside or
beneath it, and in particular, the longitudinal sections (1881, pl. 5)
would appear to show that the mouth was some distance in advance of
its posterior end.
_Restoration of Calymene._
(Text fig. 16.)
From what has been said above, it is evident that for a restoration of
the appendages of _Calymene_ considerable dependence must be placed
upon analogy with other trilobites. Nothing is positively known of the
antennules, the exopodites of the cephalon, or any appendages, other
than coxopodites, of the pygidium, but all were probably present. It
is inferred from the slices that the first two pairs of cephalic
appendages were poorly developed, the endopodites short and very
slender, the coxopodites lying parallel to the sides of the hypostoma
and nearly or quite functionless. The gnathites of the last two pairs
of cephalic appendages are large, closely approximated at their inner
ends, and bear small tooth-like spines. The endopodites are probably
somewhat better developed than the anterior ones and more like those
on the thorax.
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