2025/11/28 by Allart P. Van Viersen, Markus Poschmann, Martin R. Langer +4 · 3 voices
Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils #Subterranean biodiversity and taxonomy #Marine Biology and Ecology Research
paper · pdf · doi:10.20341/gb.2025.010
Two Devonian asteropygine trilobite specimens exhibiting rare cases of encrustation are recorded. An almost fully articulated exoskeleton of Rhenops australocustos from the lower Emsian in Luxembourg carries hederelloid colonies on its cephalon and thorax. The colonies are interpreted to have attached syn vivo (i.e. to the living trilobite) and the relation with their host was likely commensal. A cephalon of Philonyx philonyx from the upper Emsian in Germany exhibits five putative morphotype encrusters identified as hederelloids, auloporid corals, cornulitids, bryozoans and foraminifers. This is the first documented evidence of a foraminifer on a trilobite host. This cephalon is either a moult or a carcass.