Harpetidae

Harpetidae is a family of trilobites in the order Harpetida. They first appear in the Furongian epoch. The Taghanic event at the end of the Middle Devonian would impact them severely, with no genera from before surviving to the Frasnian, where two new genera, Eskoharpes and Globoharpes appear, before going extinct themselves in the Kellwasser event. Globoharpes may be a synonym of Eskoharpes.

Harpetidae

James St. John · CC BY 2.0 · 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
HarpetidaPBDB
Diet
suspension feederPBDB
Life habit
low-level epifaunalPBDB, for Trilobita
Motility
fast-movingPBDB, for Trilobita
Vision
limitedPBDB
Environment
marinePBDB, for Trilobita

Time the record covers

At least 119 million years on record.

The record covers at least 494.2 Mya to 375.2 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 497 Mya to 372.15 Mya.

Cambrian — about 5 of 429 occurrencesCambrianOrdovician — about 236 of 429 occurrencesOrdovicianSilurian — about 57 of 429 occurrencesSilurianDevonian — about 131 of 429 occurrencesDevonian499–495 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences495–491 Mya — about 1 occurrence491–487 Mya — about 4 occurrences487–482 Mya — about 4 occurrences482–478 Mya — about 5 occurrences478–474 Mya — about 5 occurrences474–469 Mya — about 32 occurrences469–465 Mya — about 33 occurrences465–461 Mya — about 33 occurrences461–456 Mya — about 39 occurrences456–452 Mya — about 29 occurrences452–448 Mya — about 31 occurrences448–443 Mya — about 24 occurrences443–439 Mya — about 10 occurrences439–435 Mya — about 11 occurrences435–430 Mya — about 7 occurrences430–426 Mya — about 8 occurrences426–422 Mya — about 16 occurrences422–417 Mya — about 11 occurrences417–413 Mya — about 14 occurrences413–409 Mya — about 25 occurrences409–404 Mya — about 8 occurrences404–400 Mya — about 8 occurrences400–396 Mya — about 10 occurrences396–391 Mya — about 14 occurrences391–387 Mya — about 18 occurrences387–383 Mya — about 3 occurrences383–378 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences378–374 Mya — about 9 occurrences374–370 Mya — about 12 occurrences494.2 Mya375.2 Mya499 Mya370 Mya

429 occurrences of Harpetidae on record, most of them in the Ordovician. 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

429 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

170 formations

Day Point — 44.61°N, 73.42°WDay Point — 44.88°N, 73.46°WDay Point — 44.83°N, 73.35°WDay Point — 44.86°N, 73.33°WDay Point — 44.84°N, 73.36°WVolkhov — 59.97°N, 32.57°EMingan — 50.20°N, 63.34°WMingan — 50.21°N, 63.75°WMingan — 50.21°N, 63.90°WMingan — 50.22°N, 63.55°WMingan — 50.21°N, 63.56°WMingan — 50.21°N, 64.13°WKopanina — 50.00°N, 14.35°EKopanina — 49.95°N, 12.93°EKopanina — 49.52°N, 13.50°EKopanina — 50.08°N, 14.47°EKopanina — 49.93°N, 14.05°EEsbataottine — 62.00°N, 127.00°WEsbataottine — 61.72°N, 125.93°WEsbataottine — 61.63°N, 125.73°WEsbataottine — 62.52°N, 124.78°WEsbataottine — 61.63°N, 125.75°WVirgin Hills — 18.73°S, 126.07°EVirgin Hills — 18.75°S, 126.03°ELochkov — 49.93°N, 14.18°ELochkov — 50.08°N, 14.47°ELochkov — 49.95°N, 14.08°ELochkov — 49.50°N, 14.33°ELochkov — 49.91°N, 14.12°ELochkov — 49.99°N, 14.34°ECrown Point — 44.61°N, 73.42°WCrown Point — 44.87°N, 73.41°WCrown Point — 44.68°N, 73.45°WCrown Point — 44.58°N, 73.53°WPozary — 50.03°N, 14.32°EPozary — 50.00°N, 17.78°EPozary — 49.52°N, 13.50°EValcour — 44.61°N, 73.42°WValcour — 44.89°N, 73.44°WEdinburg — 38.99°N, 78.36°WEdinburg — 38.99°N, 78.35°WEdinburg — 36.88°N, 81.68°WEdinburg — 37.74°N, 79.51°WIhandar — 30.84°N, 4.92°WIhandar — 30.73°N, 4.64°WKildare Limestone — 53.17°N, 6.75°WKildare Limestone — 53.20°N, 6.92°WBalclatchie — 55.24°N, 4.78°WSkelgill — 54.32°N, 2.75°WSkelgill — 52.67°N, 2.00°WTangtou — 32.00°N, 119.00°ETangtou — 32.07°N, 119.26°EChotec — 50.08°N, 14.43°EChotec — 49.50°N, 14.33°EMotol — 50.00°N, 17.78°ELochkow — 49.93°N, 14.18°ELochkow — 49.97°N, 14.13°ELochkow — 49.98°N, 14.33°EWether Law Linn — 55.81°N, 3.36°WEllis Bay — 49.82°N, 64.35°WEllis Bay — 49.42°N, 62.25°WWhittaker — 62.00°N, 127.00°WWhittaker — 61.52°N, 124.87°WBoda Limestone — 61.17°N, 14.71°EBoda Limestone — 61.05°N, 15.20°EBoda Limestone — 61.12°N, 16.62°EJunkerberg — 50.44°N, 6.65°EJunkerberg — 50.22°N, 6.67°EJunkerberg — 50.25°N, 6.67°E

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The named rock units Harpetidae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 146 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 47 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Harpetidae and its relatives

Ordovician

Where Harpetidae and its relatives were recorded in the Ordovician.

Found in the same rock

3,390 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 379 sites for Harpetidae, and this reads 240 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

161 references

Each of the 429 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. 149 further references are not listed. 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 content1

Picture of Harpetidae

Credit
James St. John
Licence
CC BY 2.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Harpetidae was found in Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

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 itHarpetida through timeFormations of the OrdovicianThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Hawle and Corda 1847