Mahantango/ Juniata 4 - Dipleura Trilobites

[hitekmastr]

This is the 4th in our "Juniata" series of fossil ID posts.

The primary goal of this trip was to find a Dipleura trilobite. I had found one previously, at Tully NY and we have 4 different species so far. It's difficult to find a fully formed trilobite and in most cases the tail section (called a pygidium) is found. Nancy found the head section of this Dipleura - you can see the "face" and the two eyes looking straight into the camera, in these photos.

In addition, we found another partial fossil (2a) and several trilobite parts (3a-d).

Our question is, do the parts all look like they came from Dipleura, or other species? This site and formation has several species of trilobites. Is it possible to tell if there are other species represented, from just these fragments?

Edited September 18, 2012 by hitekmastr

[piranha]

Yes, each of these are Dipleura fragments.

Looking forward to a complete example soon

[piranha]

These are all Dipleura fragments. The bottom photos show a Dipleura pygidium.

Tubercles or pitting are both possible in this genus depending on the degree of preservation of the exoskeleton (integument).

LINK 1

LINK 2

[hitekmastr]

Yes, each of these are Dipleura fragments.

Looking forward to a complete example soon

Haha - notice that our samples get more articulated with each trilobite trip! We started at Tully with a greenops pygidium, then found a disarticulated dipleura, than a phanops pygidium, an eldredgeops, now a dipleura head...one of these days we should stumble onto a fully formed trilo of some sort...as Nancy says, we have to open a lot of Cracker Jack shale pieces to find the prize...