Dikelocephalus

Dikelocephalus is a genus of very large trilobites of up to 50 cm (20 in) long, that lived during the last 3 million years of the Cambrian (Sunwaptan). Their fossils are commonly found as disarticulated sclerites, in the upper Mississippi Valley and in Canada (Alberta). The exoskeleton is rounded anteriorly, with the thorax and sides of the tailshield slightly tapering to about 2⁄3× of the width across the base of the spines at the back of the headshield. At the side corners of the pygidium there may be triangular or hooked spines, pointing backwards, while between the spines the posterior margin is at a 30-75° angle with the lateral margin, gently convex or nearly straight. If pygidial spines are lacking, the margin is gradually rounded. The thorax has 12 segments.

Dikelocephalus

Dwergenpaartje · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
DikelocephalidaePBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Trilobita
Life habit
low-level epifaunalPBDB, for Asaphida
Motility
fast-movingPBDB, for Asaphida
Vision
well-developedPBDB, for Dikelocephalidae
Environment
marinePBDB, for Trilobita

Time the record covers

At least 2 million years on record.

The record covers at least 488.9 Mya to 486.85 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 538.8 Mya to 477.1 Mya.

Cambrian — about 15 of 16 occurrencesCambrianOrdovician — about 1 of 16 occurrencesOrdovician540–538 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences538–536 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences536–534 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences534–531 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences531–529 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences529–527 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences527–525 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences525–523 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences523–521 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences521–519 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences519–517 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences517–514 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences514–512 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences512–510 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences510–508 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences508–506 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences506–504 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences504–502 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences502–499 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences499–497 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences497–495 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences495–493 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences493–491 Mya — about 2 occurrences491–489 Mya — about 6 occurrences489–487 Mya — about 5 occurrences487–484 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences484–482 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences482–480 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences480–478 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences478–476 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences488.9 Mya – 486.85 Mya540 Mya476 Mya

16 occurrences of Dikelocephalus on record, most of them in the Cambrian. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

16 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

9 formations

Deadwood — 47.42°N, 105.59°WDeadwood — 44.30°N, 103.88°WDeadwood — 44.25°N, 103.45°WHoyt Limestone — 43.21°N, 75.46°WHoyt Limestone — 43.08°N, 73.86°WTrempealeau — 44.52°N, 89.57°WWilberns — 31.00°N, 99.26°WFranconia — 44.03°N, 91.72°WFranconia — 43.62°N, 91.27°WBison Creek — 51.50°N, 116.20°WJordan Sandstone — 44.25°N, 91.50°WSt. Lawrence — 43.77°N, 91.42°WWindfall — 39.97°N, 114.88°W

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The named rock units Dikelocephalus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 1 occurrence has no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Dikelocephalus and its relatives

Cambrian

Where Dikelocephalus and its relatives were recorded in the Cambrian.

Found in the same rock

107 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 16 sites for Dikelocephalus, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

12 references

Each of the 16 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Dikelocephalus

Credit
Dwergenpaartje
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

Photogrammetry

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
dikelocephalus minnesotensis · MST:PALEO:MST-SP-6723

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itDikelocephalidae through timeFormations of the CambrianThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Owen 1852