RT Journal Article
T1 Sphaeroidal enrolment in middle Cambrian solenopleuropsine trilobite
A1 Esteve Serrano, Jorge Vicente
A1 Zamora Iranzo, Samuel
A1 Gonzalo, Rodolfo
A1 Liñán, Eladio
AB Fifty specimens belonging to species of Solenopleuropsis and Pardailhania from Spain and France demonstrate sphaeroidal enrolment in Cambrian trilobites for the first time. These solenopleuropsines show novel coaptative structures in different regions of the exoskeleton: in the cephalon there are vincular furrows and notches; in the thorax an articulating facet is developed at the pleural margins, with a ball and socket connection on the adaxial most portion, and an articulating half-ring axially; the pygidium possesses an articulating facet. The interaction of these coaptative structures resulted in a sphaeroidal enrolment that was a progressive act from the first articulation between the occipital ring and the first segment to the pygidial articulating facet. A similar type of sphaeroidal enrolment is observed in the Devonian trilobite Phacops. Both Cambrian and Devonian trilobites developed a vincular furrow in the ventral surface of the cephalon to close their bodies tightly. In both cases, this is probably a convergent adaptation to protect against predators and obrution. Indeed, the enrolled trilobites are very common in obrution deposits restricted to shallow and soft muddy substrates.
PB Scandinavian University Press
SN 0024-1164
YR 2010
FD 2010
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/97962
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/97962
LA eng
NO Esteve, Jorge, et al. «Sphaeroidal Enrolment in Middle Cambrian Solenopleuropsine Trilobites». Lethaia, vol. 43, n.o 4, diciembre de 2010, pp. 478-93. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1502-3931.2009.00205.x.
NO Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (España)
NO European Commission 
NO Gobierno de Aragón
DS Docta Complutense
RD 5 abr 2025