Lejopyge laevigata

Lejopyge laevigata Temporal range: Guzhangian–Paibian PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Illustration of Lejopyge laevigata
Lejopyge laevigata pygidium
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	†Trilobita
Order:	†Agnostida
Family:	†Ptychagnostidae
Genus:	†Lejopyge
Species:	†L. laevigata
Binomial name
Lejopyge laevigata (Dalman, 1828)
Synonyms
Agnostus laevigatus (Dalman, 1828) Battus laevigatus Dalman, 1828

Lejopyge laevigata is a species of agnostid trilobite belonging to the genus Lejopyge. It existed during the Guzhangian to the Paibian Age (around 500.5 to 497 million years ago) of the Cambrian. It has a cosmopolitan distribution and is an important index fossil in biostratigraphy.

Lejopyge laevigata exhibits a cephalon and pygidium that are smooth and almost featureless (effaced). Both possess axial furrows that gradually become shallower until they disappear distally. They surround the rear edges of the glabella (reaching about as far or a little past the basal glabellar lobes) and the anterior end of the central lobe of the pygidium. Basal furrows are also present. The genae ("cheeks") are usually smooth, but in extremely rare cases they may possess small pits (scrobicules) of moderate depth. The border around the pygidium is uniform in width at the back and narrows towards the front. Like all members of the suborder Agnostina, Lejopyge laevigata is completely blind.

Lejopyge laevigata has a cosmopolitan distribution, making it an ideal intercontinental correlation tool in biostratigraphy. It has been described from Argentina, Australia (including Tasmania), China, Denmark (including Greenland), Germany, India, Kazakhstan, Norway, Poland, Turkestan, Uzbekistan, Russia, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States (including rare finds in Alaska).