Vermont Trilobite

[WATERLINE]

On a recent trip to Vermont I found a piece of mudstone that had some interesting stuff in it....Although very small, the detail of these trilobites is fascinating. I just need some help with ID.....

I found the image of a similar looking Ordovician trilobite (Tretaspis Sortita) in a British Palaeozoic text, but not sure if I should cross reference....

 

Comments by return......please.

 

Thanks

[piranha]

They are Cryptolithus tessellatus, a prolific trilobite in the Ordovician of Vermont.

 

 

[doushantuo]

CT

Those of you who display allergic reactions to anything approaching quantitative methods in paleontology,do not look at this one

[piranha]

Here are some excellent line drawings of Cryptolithus tessellatus

 

 

[doushantuo]

Trinucleus is in here as well

p 157

[doushantuo]

3d models:

 

bu_Trin.pdf

[Jeffrey P]

Very nice Cryptolithus there. Excellent find. Congratulations.

[Pagurus]

Nice. Thanks for posting this here on the forum, and thanks to all our knowledgeable members for the ID and interesting information!

[WATERLINE]

Thank you everyone for the responses....The actual visit to VT was based on a relative purchasing a farmstead near Middlebury...I now have a nice excuse to return often. My intelligence tells me the shores of Lake Champlain near Bridport are good hunting grounds....Does anyone have experience in this neighborhood?

[Fossildude19]

Great find!

 

No personal experience, but I found this:

 

 

From THIS WEBSITE.

The information is extremely old, but it is something to start your research from.  

Hope to see more from the area.  

Regards,

[piranha]

Much of the literature also describes the species Cryptolithus "lorettensis" from Vermont.  

Shaw & Lespérance 1994 classify these as morphs rather than distinct species, synonymous with the type species: Cryptolithus tessellatus

 

QUOTE:

lt is our contention that all specimens described from eastern North America by many writers under the names Cryptolithus tessellatus Green, Cryptolithus lorettensis Foerste, and Cryptolithus bellulus (Ulrich) or synonyms thereof defined by Whittington (1968) or Hughes et al. (1975) are morphs, races, or regional variants of Cryptolithus tessellatus.  These specimens thus do not merit formal taxonomic status as species, sibling species, or subspecies.

 

Shaw, F.C., & Lespérance, P.J. (1994)
North American biogeography and taxonomy of Cryptolithus (Trilobita, Ordovician).

Journal of Paleontology, 68(4:)808-823

 

[WATERLINE]

Thanks everyone.....