Name: Crotalocephalina (Crotalocephalus) gibbus
Trilobite Order Phacopida, Family Cheiruridae
Geologic Time: Devonian
Size: 75 mm
Fossil Site: Lamrakeb, Alnif , Morocco
 Elegant
example of a member of the Order Phacopida, Family Cheiruridae with
many fine details present. The most diagnostic features of this taxon
are the sharp pleural and pygidial spines and the distinctive cephalon.
The describer of this one thought it bore a resemblance to the head
of a rattlesnake (Crotalus), hence the genus name. The spines may
have aided it in staying at the surface of the soft seafloor. This
one is displayed in a sinuous pose as if undulating across its matrix.
The name has changed several times, from Crotalocephalus to Crotalocephalina,
and recently to Cheirurus, making it hard for the layman to keep up. |
