Corynexochida
Neodrepanura premesnili
Order Corynexochida / Suborder Leiostegiina / Superfamily Dameselloidea / Family Damesellidae / Subfamily Drepanurinae
Guzhangian (Miaolingian, Cambrian)Shandong, Liaoning and other parts of North China
Classification
Order Corynexochida / Suborder Leiostegiina / Superfamily Dameselloidea / Family Damesellidae / Subfamily Drepanurinae
Genus
Neodrepanura Özdikmen, 2006
Genus author
Özdikmen H.
Genus etymology
neo-, Latin, new; drepan-, Latin, sickle; -ur-, tail. The Chinese name refers to the bat-like shape of the pygidium
Species
N. premesnili (Bergeron, 1899)
Species author
Bergeron J.
Species etymology
Premesnil, the surname of M. A. R. Prémesnil, who purchased and donated the type specimens
Age
Guzhangian (Miaolingian, Cambrian)
Distribution
Shandong, Liaoning and other parts of North China
Synonyms
Drepanura premesnili; Drepanura pingshanensis
Diagnosis
Cephalon wide; glabella narrow anteriorly and wide posteriorly, with three pairs of glabellar furrows; anterior border absent; librigenae without genal spines; eyes small, in the anterior part of the cephalon. Thorax of 12 segments; the pleural spines of segment 7 sometimes large and wide. Pygidium with a pair of strong lateral spines; between the two large spines are 6 pairs of serrate or slightly elongate small spines, subequal or unequal in length; triangular apart from the large spines. This species is the type species of the genus Neodrepanura, commonly known as the "bat stone" or "swallow stone". The original genus name Drepanura was a junior homonym and was replaced by Neodrepanura by
Remarks
Özdikmen 2006. Neodrepanura premesnili is the earliest trilobite of identifiable species documented in Chinese literature (Wang Shizhen's Chibei Outan, 1691). The first complete dorsal exoskeleton of this species was discovered by Liu Xuefeng (32°C Wild Pigeon), a fossil enthusiast from Shandong, and published on the Fossil Web, then formally described by Liu Qing et al. (2011).