Proetida

Telephina spinifera

Order Proetida / Superfamily Bathyuroidea / Family Telephinidae

Darriwilian (Middle Ordovician) to Sandbian (Late Ordovician)USA

Telephina spinifera — photo 1 — Photo 1 · birth was put with his mother in a wooden chest and thrown in the sea. The genus name may allude to the pelagic drifting lifestyle of Telephina. The Chinese name may derive from the Greek tele-, meaning far, and the large eyes of this genus. Holotype USNM 80537 (USA; Ulrich 1930) Exuvia specimen, currently the only nearly complete dorsal exoskeleton of the genus Telephina (USA; Fischer 1946)

Telephina spinifera — photo 2 — Photo 2 · birth was put with his mother in a wooden chest and thrown in the sea. The genus name may allude to the pelagic drifting lifestyle of Telephina. The Chinese name may derive from the Greek tele-, meaning far, and the large eyes of this genus. Holotype USNM 80537 (USA; Ulrich 1930) Exuvia specimen, currently the only nearly complete dorsal exoskeleton of the genus Telephina (USA; Fischer 1946)

Classification

Order Proetida / Superfamily Bathyuroidea / Family Telephinidae

Genus

Telephina Marek, 1952

Genus author

Marek L.

Genus etymology

The replaced original name Telephus comes from Telephus of Greek mythology, a man of misfortunes who at

Species

T. spinifera Ulrich, 1930

Species author

Ulrich E. O.

Species etymology

spinifera, spine-bearing

Age

Darriwilian (Middle Ordovician) to Sandbian (Late Ordovician)

Distribution

USA

Synonyms

Telephus spiniferus; Telephina (Telephina) spinifera

Diagnosis

The cranidium of this species is very similar to Telephina bicuspis; Shaw (2014) questionably assigned its holotype to T. bicuspis. The complete exuvia specimen published by Fischer (1946) has 9 thoracic segments; some spines may be invisible due to preservation.