Condylopyge
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Condylopyge Temporal range: latest Lower to early Middle Cambrian (Toyonian to Mayaian) |
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| Cephalon (top) and pygidium (bottom) of Condylopyge rex | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Trilobita |
| Order: | Agnostida |
| Suborder: | Agnostina |
| Superfamily: | Condylopygoidea |
| Family: | Condylopygidae |
| Genus: |
Condylopyge Hawle & Corda, 1847 |
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| Synonyms | |
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Paragnostus, Fallagnostus |
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Paragnostus, Fallagnostus
Condylopyge is a genus of very small trilobites, that lived during the latest Early and the early Middle Cambrian, in what are today Canada (Newfoundland and New Brunswick), Czech Republic, England and Wales, France, Germany, Italy, Morocco, the Russian Federation (North-East Siberia), Spain, Turkey and Sweden. It can easily be distinguished from all other Agnostida because the frontal lobe of the central raised area of the headshield (or glabella) is wider than the rear lobe. It looks like Pleuroctenium but the frontal glabellar lobe does not fold around the rear lobe, as it does in Pleuroctenium.
Like all Agnostida, Condylopyge is diminutive, with the headshield (or cephalon) and tailshield (or pygidium) of approximately the same size (or isopygous) and outline, and only two thorax segments. The characteristic sidewise expansion of the frontal lobe of the glabella, occipital structures instead of basal lobes, and a rhachis with three pairs of side lobes and a rear lobe differentiate Condylopygidae from all other agnostids. Condylopyge can easily be distinguished from its sister taxon Pleuroctenium because the frontal glabellar lobe does not wrap around the sides of the rear lobe, giving it a mushroom-like appearance. The frontal glabellar lobe is never dissected lengthwise, unlike in Pleuroctenium, where this is often clearly visible. The pygidium may carry a pair of backwardly directed spines, but this also occurs regularly in Pleuroctenium.
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