Declivolithus titan is a Junior Synonym of Declivolithus alfredi

[piranha]

Today we get a new paper that has reclassified "Declivolithus titan" as a junior synonym of: Declivolithus alfredi.

 

Richard Fortey provided a detailed review, we can safely assume that this revision is well reasoned on solid ground.

 

The time has arrived for all the conscientious trilobite aficionados around the world to make new labels!

 

 

Pereira et al. 2024: "With this revision, we not only clarify the identity of previously reported species of the Declivolithus Fauna from Morocco, but also increased diversity and demonstrated that the famous Declivolithus titan, well known among collectors, is a junior synonym of the type species Declivolithus alfredi erected in the Czech Republic. Links to the Czech assemblages remained strong during the Late Ordovician. These data help improve paleogeographical reconstructions of the Gondwana margin in this time period, as well as provide new information on several phylogenetic lineages endemic to the peri-Gondwana realm."

 

Fortey, R.A., Edgecombe, G.D. 2017  [Declivolithus titan sp. nov.]
An Upper Ordovician (Katian) Trilobite Fauna from the Lower Ktaoua Formation, Morocco.
Czech Geological Survey, Bulletin of Geosciences, 92(3):311-322  PDF LINK

 

Pereira, S., Rábano, I., Gutiérrez-Marco, J.C. 2024

The Trilobite Assemblage of the Declivolithus Fauna (Lower Katian, Ordovician) of Morocco: A Review with New Data.

Journal of Paleontology,  (ahead-of-print publication – in press) 34 pp.  PDF LINK