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 coxopodites of the thorax appear to have had nearly cylindrical
endobases which tapered inward. The endopodites were slender, tapering
gradually outward, and probably did not extend beyond the dorsal test.
Small spines were present on the distal end of each segment. Each
exopodite had a long, slender, unsegmented shaft, to which were
attached numerous long, overlapping, flattened setæ. The shaft may
have been angulated near the proximal end, and may have been directed
somewhat forward and outward as in Neolenus, but the evidence on this
point is unsatisfactory. The number of pairs of appendages is that
determined by Walcott from longitudinal sections, namely, four pairs
on the cephalon beside the antennules, thirteen pairs in the thorax,
and nine pairs on the pygidium.
=Calymene= sp. ind.
(pl. 6, figs. 4, 5.)
Illustrated: Walcott, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., Harvard Coll., vol.
8, 1881, pl. 6, figs. 5a, b;--Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, vol. 9,
1894, pl. 1, fig. 10;--Geol. Mag., dec. 4, vol. 1, 1894, pl. 8,
fig. 10;--Smithson. Misc. Coll., vol. 67, 1918, pl. 36, figs. 1, 2,
2a-d.--Milne-Edwards, Ann. Sci. Nat., Zoologie, ser. 6, vol. 12,
1881; pl. 12, figs. 44a, b.
In the United States National Museum there is a thin piece of
limestone, about 3 inches square, which has on its surface eight
jointed objects that have been called legs of trilobites. Two of these
were figured by Walcott (1881, pl. 6, fig. 5). The slab contains
specimens of _Dalmanella_ and _Cryptolithus_, in addition to the
appendages of trilobites, and is said by Doctor Ulrich to have come
from the tipper part of the Point Pleasant formation (Trenton) on the
bank of the Ohio River below Covington, Kentucky.
The specimens are all endopodites of long slender form, similar to
those of _Triarthrus_, but since that genus does not occur in the
Point Pleasant, it is necessary to look upon some other trilobite as
the former possessor of these organs. Both _Isotelus_ and _Calymene_
occur at this horizon, and as the specimens obviously do not belong
to _Isotelus_ or _Cryptolithus_, it is probable that they were
formerly part of a _Calymene_.
All the endopodites are of chitinous material, and the various
specimens show, according to the perfection of their preservation,
from four to six segments. The endopodite as a whole tapers but
slightly outward, and the individual segments are of nearly equal
length. They appear to be but little crushed, and are oval in section,
with a crimped anterior and posterior margin. One or two show a median
longitudinal ridge, such as is seen in some appendages of
_Triarthrus_. Each segment is parallel-sided, with a slight expansion
at the distal end, where the next segment fits into it.
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