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 growth of the memoir to its present size has been a gradual one.
As first completed in 1917, it contained an account of the appendages
only. Thoughts upon the probable use of the appendages led to the
discussion of possible habits, and that in turn to a consideration of
all that is known or could be inferred of the structure and anatomy of
the trilobite. Then followed an inquiry into the relationships to
other Arthropoda, which ultimately upset firmly established
preconceptions of the isolated position of the group, and led to a
modification of Bernard's view of its ancestry.
During the progress of the work, I have had the opportunity of
examining most of the known specimens retaining appendages. From the
Marsh collection in the Yale University Museum were selected the
forty-six specimens showing best the appendages of _Triarthrus_,
_Cryptolithus_, and _Acidaspis_. Dr. Charles D. Walcott very kindly
returned to the Museum of Comparative Zoology the slices of
_Ceraurus_, _Calymene_, and _Isotelus_ which were the basis of his
paper of 1881, and which had been loaned him for further study. He
loaned also eight of the more important specimens of _Neolenus
serratus_, and two of _Triarthrus becki_. At the United States
National Museum I saw the specimens of _Isotelus_ described by
Mickleborough and the isolated limbs of _Calymene_ from near
Cincinnati. The _Isotelus_ at Ottawa I had already studied with some
care while an officer of the Geological Survey of Canada.
This memoir consists, as shown in the table of contents, of four
parts. The appendages of _Neolenus_, _Isotelus_, _Ptychoparia_,
_Kootenia_, _Ceraurus_, _Calymene_, and _Acidaspis_ are discussed, as
fully as circumstances warrant, in the first part, and new
restorations of the ventral surfaces of _Neolenus_, _Isotelus_,
_Triarthrus_, _Ceraurus_ and _Cryptolithus_ are included It is not
supposed that these restorations will be of permanent value in all of
their detail, but they are put forward as the best approximations to
the real structure that the writer is able to present from the
materials so far discovered. I am greatly indebted to Doctor Elvira
Wood for the care and skill with which she has worked up these
restorations from my rather sketchy suggestions. She has put into them
not only a great amount of patient work, but also the results of
considerable study of the specimens.
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