The early Cambrian Guanshan biota of eastern Yunnan, China, contains exceptionally preserved animals and algae. Most diverse and abundant are the arthropods, of which there are at least 11 species of trilobites represented by numerous specimens. Many trilobite specimens show soft-body preservation via iron oxide pseudomorphs of pyrite replacement. Here we describe digestive structures from two ...

SYNOPSIS. The Cambrian radiation is that key episode in the history of life when a large number of animal phyla appeared in the fossil record over a geologically short period of time. Over the last 20 years, scientific understanding of this radiation has increased significantly. Still, fundamental questions remain about the timing of the radiation and also the tempo of evolution. Trilobites are...

Abstract. Articulated holaspid specimens of Placoparia Hawle and Corda, 1847 Eoharpes Raymond, 1905 entombed inside cephalopod conchs under the remains large illaenid, asaphid, cyclopygid dalmanitid trilobites from Middle Ordovician Šárka Formation Prague Basin (Czech Republic) are described discussed. Two such samples were also found in overlying Dobrotivá Middle/Late age. Four articulated juv...

-The Ordovician Radiation exhibited a global transition in dominance from the Cambrian evolutionary fauna (e.g., trilobites), to the Paleozoic and Modern faunas (e.g., articulate brachiopods and bivalve molluscs). Although its causes have yet to be determined definitively, the transition coincided with increased global tectonism. Erosion of source areas uplifted during orogenic activity increas...

Trilobites have a rich and abundant fossil record, but little is known about the intrinsic mechanisms that orchestrate their body organization. To date, there is disagreement regarding the correspondence, or lack thereof, of the segmental units that constitute the trilobite trunk and their associated exoskeletal elements. The phylogenetic position of trilobites within total-group Euarthropoda, ...

-During the Ordovician Radiation, domination of benthic marine communities shifted away from trilobites, toward articulate brachiopods, and, to a lesser degree, toward bivalves and gastropods. In this paper, we identify the patterns in origination and extinction probabilities that gave rise to these transitions. Using methods adapted from capture-mark-recapture (CMR) population studies, we esti...

The Trilobita were characterized by a cephalic region in which the biomineralized exoskeleton showed relatively high morphological differentiation among a taxonomically stable set of well defined segments, and an ontogenetically and taxonomically dynamic trunk region in which both exoskeletal segments and ventral appendages were similar in overall form. Ventral appendages were homonomous biramo...

The calcitic lenses in the eyes of Palaeozoic trilobites are unique in the animal kingdom, although the use of calcite would have conveyed great advantages for vision in aquatic systems. Calcite lenses are transparent, and due to their high refractive index they would facilitate the focusing of light. In some respects, however, calcite lenses bear evident disadvantages. Birefringence would caus...