Paladin (trilobite)

Paladin
Temporal range: Carboniferous – Permian, 353.8–259.0 Ma
Artist's reconstruction of Paladin morrowensis.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: †Trilobita
Order: †Proetida
Family: †Proetidae
Genus: †Paladin
Weller, 1936[1]

Paladin is a genus of trilobite which lived 354–259 Ma, during the Late Paleozoic era; more specifically, during the Carboniferous and Permian periods. It was widespread: fossils have been discovered in what are now East Asia, Europe and North America.[2][3][4]

The genus was erected in 1936 by J. M. Weller.[1] The name derives from the paladins, the semi-legendary twelve foremost knights of Emperor Charlemagne (748–814).

Paladin was a fast-moving low-level epifaunal deposit feeder; that is, it scavenged at the bottom of shallow marine or brackish waters.

Species

Approximately fifty species have been assigned to the genus;[5] the following are accepted:[2]

  • P. eichwaldi shunnerensis (King, 1914). 326.4–318.1 Ma, Great Shunner Fell, England. Synonyms Griffithides shunnerensis, P. shunnerensis, Weberides shunnerensis.
  • P. helmsensis (Whittington, 1954). 339.4–318.1 Ma, Texas.
  • P. iwaizakiensis (Kobayashi and Hamada, 1984). 265.0–259.0 Ma, Japan.
  • P. morrowensis (Mather, 1915). 318.1–314.6 Ma, Oklahoma. Synonym Griffithides morrowensis.
  • P. mucronatus (Girty, 1910). 339.4–336.0 Ma, Arkansas and Oklahoma. Synonym Griffithides mucronatus.
  • P. opisthops (Kobayashi and Hamada, 1979). 314.6-306.95 Ma, Thailand.
  • P. veeravurusi (Kobayashi and Hamada, 1979). 314.6-306.95 Ma, Thailand.

References

  1. ^ a b Weller, J. M. (1936). "Carboniferous trilobite genera". J. Paleontol. 10 (8): 704–714.
  2. ^ a b "Paladin Weller 1936 (trilobite)". Fossilworks.
  3. ^ "Paladin Weller, 1936". GBIF.
  4. ^ "Paladin". Mindat.org.
  5. ^ Brezinski, David R. (2003). "Evolutionary and Biogeographical Implications of Phylogenetic Analysis of the Late Palaeozoic Trilobite Paladin" (PDF). Special Papers in Palaeontology. 70. Palaeontological Association: 363–375.
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