Ptychagnostus buckleyi, a Blind Trilobite from Cambrian Tasmania


Ptychagnostus buckleyi

Class Trilobita (Trilobites); Trilobite Order Agnostida; Family Ptychagnostidae

Geological Time: Middle Cambrian

Size: 5 mm long by 3 mm wide on a 40 mm by 30 mm matrix pair

Fossil Site: Upper Fauna, Cassis or Agra Zones, Christmas Hills, Smithton, Tasmania, Australia


Ptychagnostus buckleyi trilobiteComing from the Middle Cambrian deposits of Tasmania, this is an example of a part/counterpart pair of the trilobite Ptychagnostus akanthodes. The members of the Agnostida are mostly thought to have been planktonic in nature. Most are blind, and have a pygidium equal in size to the cephalon (ispopygous), making it hard to tell which end was which! This Ptychagnostus is remarkably detailed for such a tiny specimen, and is fully articulated.

click trilobite pictures to enlarge


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