Corynexochida

Blackwelderia octaspina

Order Corynexochida / Suborder Leiostegiina / Superfamily Dameselloidea / Family Damesellidae / Subfamily Damesellinae

Guzhangian (Miaolingian, Cambrian)Shandong, Northeast China and other parts of North China
Blackwelderia octaspina — photo 1
Photo 1 · specimens Type specimen (Korea; Kobayashi 1935) Literature specimen (Liaoning; Literature specimen (Hebei; Zhu et al., SNMNH) 1989) Complete ventrally compressed specimen (Shandong; Thorax and pygidium with denticulate pleural 32°C Wild Pigeon of the Fossil Web) spines (Shandong; Baishui)
Blackwelderia octaspina — photo 2
Photo 2 · specimens Type specimen (Korea; Kobayashi 1935) Literature specimen (Liaoning; Literature specimen (Hebei; Zhu et al., SNMNH) 1989) Complete ventrally compressed specimen (Shandong; Thorax and pygidium with denticulate pleural 32°C Wild Pigeon of the Fossil Web) spines (Shandong; Baishui)
Blackwelderia octaspina — photo 3
Photo 3 · specimens Type specimen (Korea; Kobayashi 1935) Literature specimen (Liaoning; Literature specimen (Hebei; Zhu et al., SNMNH) 1989) Complete ventrally compressed specimen (Shandong; Thorax and pygidium with denticulate pleural 32°C Wild Pigeon of the Fossil Web) spines (Shandong; Baishui)
Blackwelderia octaspina — photo 4
Photo 4 · specimens Type specimen (Korea; Kobayashi 1935) Literature specimen (Liaoning; Literature specimen (Hebei; Zhu et al., SNMNH) 1989) Complete ventrally compressed specimen (Shandong; Thorax and pygidium with denticulate pleural 32°C Wild Pigeon of the Fossil Web) spines (Shandong; Baishui)
Blackwelderia octaspina — photo 5
Photo 5 · specimens Type specimen (Korea; Kobayashi 1935) Literature specimen (Liaoning; Literature specimen (Hebei; Zhu et al., SNMNH) 1989) Complete ventrally compressed specimen (Shandong; Thorax and pygidium with denticulate pleural 32°C Wild Pigeon of the Fossil Web) spines (Shandong; Baishui)
Classification
Order Corynexochida / Suborder Leiostegiina / Superfamily Dameselloidea / Family Damesellidae / Subfamily Damesellinae
Genus
Blackwelderia Walcott, 1906
Genus author
Walcott C. D.
Genus etymology
Blackwelder, a surname, referring to E. Blackwelder, an early-20th-century collector of North China trilobite
Species
B. octaspina (Kobayashi, 1935)
Species author
Kobayashi T.
Species etymology
oct (Latin, eight) + spina (Latin, spine), referring to the eight pairs of pygidial spines
Age
Guzhangian (Miaolingian, Cambrian)
Distribution
Shandong, Northeast China and other parts of North China
Synonyms
Damesella octaspina
Diagnosis
Cephalon relatively wide; librigenae with medium-length genal spines. Thorax of 12 segments, axis narrower than pleurae; pleural furrows distinct; pleural spines of medium length and nearly equal, bearing denticles. Pygidium transversely wide, sub-elliptical apart from spines; axis prominent, conical, divided into four to five axial rings and a terminal piece; pleurae gentle with distinct pleural furrows; a distinct pygidial border present, with eight pairs of spines, the first pair longest and the eighth shortest.
Remarks
The first complete ventral-compressed specimen of this species was discovered and published by Liu Xuefeng (32°C Wild Pigeon), a fossil enthusiast from Shandong.