TRILOBITA

SUBMITTED TO : DR MUNISH DOGRA DR MAMTA GULERIA

MISS NEHA SHARMA MR ARUN DHAWAN
SUBMITTED BY : HIMANI
 CONTENT
• CLASSIFICATION
• INTRODUCTION
• MORPHOLOGY
• GEOLOGICAL DISTRIBUTION
• SOME IMPORTANT FOSSILS
• EXTINCTION
 CLASSIFICATION
• KINGDOM ANIMALIA
• PHYLUM ARTHROPODA
• SUB PHYLUM TRILOBITOMORPHA
• CLASS TRILOBITA
• ORDERS AGNOSTIDA
EODISCIDA
PROPARIA
OPISTHOPARIA
OLENELLIDA
 INTRODUCTION

• TRILOBITA INCLUDES EXTICNT FORMS OF PHYLUM ARTHROPODA

• HIGHLY EVOLVED INVERTEBRATES
• EXCLUSIVELY MARINE IN HABITAT
• AGE : PALAEOZOIC ERA FROM CAMBRIAN TO PERMIAN PERIOD
• OLDEST KNOWN FOSSIL OF LOWER CAMBRIAN IS NEVADIA
• TRI – THREE, LOB- LOBES, BIT- PIECES
 MORPHOLOGY

•CHARACTERIZED BY TRACES OF BILATERAL SYMMETRY.

•CARAPACE – STRONG CALCAREOUS EXOSKELETON
•TRILOBITA MEANS POSSESION OF THREE DISTINCT LOBES BOTH
LONGITUDINALLY AND TRANSVERSLY.
•LONGITUDINAL LOBES ARE – AXIAL LOBE( CENTRAL) AND LATERAL LOBE OR
PLEURON PLACED ON BOTH SIDE OF CENTRAL AXIAL LOBE.
•LONGITUDINAL LOBES ARE SEPARATED FROM EACH OTHER BY DEEP
DEPRESSED LINES CALLED AS FURROWS.
•TRANSVERSLY THE BODY IS DIVIDED INTO 3 PARTS : CEPHALON, THORAX ,
PYGIDIUM.
(a) longitudinal lobes (b) transverse lobe
Nevadia
 CEPHALON ( HEAD SHIELD)
• DORSAL PART THAT COVERS HEAD
• LIES ON ANTERIOR SIDE OF EXOSKELETON
• SEMICIRCULAR OUTLINE TOWARDS THE ANTERIOR SIDE
• 6 FUSED SEGMENTS
• DISTINGUISHED INTO MEDIAN AND LATERAL PORTIONS
• THE MEDIAN AND RAISE CENTRAL
PART IS GLABELLA
• THE PORTION THAT SURROUNDS GLABELLA
ARE CHEEKS
• AXIAL FURROWS SEPARATE CHEEKS & GLABELLA
• GLABELLA IS COMPOSED OF LOBES KNOWN
AS GLABELLAR LOBES AND ARE SEPARATED BY
GLABELLAR FURROWS
• FACIAL SUTURE DIVIDE CHEEKS INTO FREE CHEEK AND FIXED CHEEK
• FREE CHEEK ARE KNOWN AS LIBRIGENA AND FIXED CHEEK ARE KNOWN AS
FIXIGENA
• CRANIDIUM (GLABELLA + FIXED CHEEK )
• GENAL ANGLE
• GENAL SPINE
• COMPOUND EYES
 FACIAL SUTURE
FACIAL SUTURE- TWO DEPRESSED LINES ON EITHER SIDE OF THE
GLABELLA, SEPARATING FREE CHEEK AND FIXED CHEEK ON DORSAL
SIDE OF CEPHALON
• THESE ARE THE FIVE TYPES OF FACIAL SUTURE IN TRILOBITA AS –
• PROTOPARIAN
• PROPARIAN
• OPISTHOPARIAN
• GONATOPARIAN
• HYPOPARIAN
 THORAX (BODY)
• THORAX IS THE CENTRAL PORTION OF A TRILOBITE’S SKELETON
• LIES IN BETWEEN CEPHALON AND PYGIDIUM
• MADE UP OF A SERIES OF NEARLY IDENTICAL SEGMENTS
• TWO TO FORTY TWO IN NUMBER AND ARE MOVABLE
• DIVISIBLE INTO THREE LOBES SUCH AS AN AXIAL LOBE AND TWO PLEURAL LOBES SEPARATED
BY TWO AXIAL FURROWS
• MEDIAN LOBE IS KNOWN AS AXIAL LOBE
• AND LATERAL LOBES ARE KNOWN AS LEFT AND RIGHT PLEURAL LOBES
 PYGIDIUM
• PYGIDIUM IS A TAIL PIECE, WHICH LIES AT THE POSTERIOR MARGIN OF
THE TRILOBITE
• IT IS TRIANGULAR TO SEMI-TRIANGULAR IN SHAPE AND COMPOSED
OF A VARIABLE NUMBER OF SEGMENTS, WHICH ARE FUSED
TOGETHER, IMMOVABLE AND MAY BE ONE TO THIRTY IN NUMBER
• IT IS ALSO DIVIDED INTO AN AXIAL LOBE AND TWO PLEURAL LOBES
• THE POSTERIOR END OF PYGIDIUM HAS AN EXTENSION OF AN AXIAL
SPINE, WHICH IS TERMED AS TELSON
• PYGIDIUM MAY BE LARGER OR SMALLER THAN THE CEPHALON
• BASED ON THE SIZE OF PYGIDIUM, TRILOBITES MAY BE DEFINED AS :
• A. MICROPYGOUS: WHEN PYGIDIUM IS SMALL.
• B. MACROPYGOUS: WHEN PYGIDIUM IS LARGER THAN CEPHALON.
• C. ISOPYGOUS: PYGIDIUM AND CEPHALON ARE EQUAL IN SIZE.
 GEOLOGICAL DISTRIBUTION

TRILOBITES CAME INTO EXISTENCE IN CAMBRIAN.

MAXIMUM DEVELOPMENT ATTAINED IN ORDOVICIAN.

ITS NUMBER STARTED REDUCING FROM SILURIAN ONWARDS.

• RARE IN CARBONIFEROUS AND BECAME EXTINCT END OF THE PERMIAN.
• OLDEST KNOWN FOSSIL OF TRILOBITA IS NEVADIA.
 SOME IMPORTANT FOSSILS

• TRINUCLEUS – SEMICIRCULAR CEPHALON, LONG GENAL SPINE, INFLATED

GLABELLA, EYES ABSENT, SIX THORACIC SEGMENTS, SMALL TRIANGULAR
PYGIDIUM
• AGE : ORDOVICIAN
• PARADOXIDES – LARGE BODY, ELONGATED AND NARROW POSTERIOR END,
SEMICIRCULAR AND LARGE CEPHALIC SHEILD, BROAD INFLATED GLABELLA,
LONG GENAL SPINES, LARGE EYES, TWENTY TO TWENTY TWO THORACIC
SEGMENTS, PLATE LIKE MICROPYGOUS PYGIDIUM.
• AGE : MIDDLE CAMBRIAN
 EXTINCTION

TRILOBITES LIVED IN PALAEOZOIC ERA AND BECOME EXTINCT THEREAFTER.

THE MALE SPECIES USED THEIR THORNY SPINES TO ATTRACT AND ENTRAP
FEMALES TO KILL

AN EFFECTIVE CAUSE OF THEIR EXTINCTION

• BEING UNISEXUAL, MALES ALSO BECAME EXTINCT THEREAFTER.