Dicranurus

Dicranurus hamatus · Dicranurus was a spiny trilobite that lived in a shallow Devonian sea, and its fossils are found in New York, Oklahoma, and Morocco.

It lived about 413 to 393.5 million years ago.

Dicranurus
Photo: Gary Todd, CC0
Dicranurus
Photo: Daderot, CC0
Dicranurus
Photo: Skye McDavid, CC BY-SA 4.0

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumArthropoda
ClassTrilobita
OrderOdontopleurida
FamilyOdontopleuridae
GenusDicranurus
SpeciesDicranurus hamatus

Where its fossils were found

Oklahoma and New York (USA), Morocco, the Czech Republic and southeastern Australia.

Fun facts

  • Dicranurus had a pair of large, curled, horn-like spines growing from behind the glabellum, which set it apart from other odontopleurid trilobites.
  • Its body was only about 1 inch (25 mm) long, but its big spines made it at least 2 inches (51 mm) long.
  • Its huge spines may have made it harder for predators such as arthrodire placoderms to attack it.
  • The spines may also have helped stop Dicranurus from sinking into the soft mud of its sea home.

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Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).