Dicranurus (Greek, 'dikranon', a pitchfork, and 'oura', tail) is a genus of Lower to Middle Devonianodontopleuridtrilobites that lived in a shallow sea that lay between Euramerica and Gondwana, corresponding to modern-day Oklahoma and New York, and Morocco, respectively. As such, their fossils are found in New York, Oklahoma, and Morocco. Their bodies averaged about 1-inch (25 mm) or so, in length, though their large spines made them at least 2 inches (51 mm) in length. It is speculated that such tremendous spines hampered the ability of predators, such as arthrodireplacoderms, to attack them, as well as to help prevent them from sinking into the soft mud of their environment. Dicranurus trilobites are distinguished from other odontopleurids by the pair of large, curled, horn-like spines that emanate from behind the glabellum. The genus name refers to these distinctive horns, in fact.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dicranurus.
Dicranurus monstrosus
In popular cultureedit
Dicranurus was an inspiration for an early version of an alien creature from the 2012 movie Prometheus. While the final design doesn't look much like Dicranurus, the creature is still referred to as "trilobite" due to its inspiration.[1]
dicranurus, greek, dikranon, pitchfork, oura, tail, genus, lower, middle, devonian, odontopleurid, trilobites, that, lived, shallow, that, between, euramerica, gondwana, corresponding, modern, oklahoma, york, morocco, respectively, such, their, fossils, found,. Dicranurus Greek dikranon a pitchfork and oura tail is a genus of Lower to Middle Devonian odontopleurid trilobites that lived in a shallow sea that lay between Euramerica and Gondwana corresponding to modern day Oklahoma and New York and Morocco respectively As such their fossils are found in New York Oklahoma and Morocco Their bodies averaged about 1 inch 25 mm or so in length though their large spines made them at least 2 inches 51 mm in length It is speculated that such tremendous spines hampered the ability of predators such as arthrodire placoderms to attack them as well as to help prevent them from sinking into the soft mud of their environment Dicranurus trilobites are distinguished from other odontopleurids by the pair of large curled horn like spines that emanate from behind the glabellum The genus name refers to these distinctive horns in fact DicranurusTemporal range Pragian Emsian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N Dicranurus hamatus elegantus Scientific classification Kingdom Animalia Phylum Arthropoda Class Trilobita Order OdontopleuridaMoore 1959 Family Odontopleuridae Genus Dicranurus species D hamatus D elegans D monstrosus Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dicranurus Dicranurus monstrosusIn popular culture editDicranurus was an inspiration for an early version of an alien creature from the 2012 movie Prometheus While the final design doesn t look much like Dicranurus the creature is still referred to as trilobite due to its inspiration 1 External links editDescription of Haragan Formation Oklahoma 1 Fossil Mall s description of D elegans 2 Fossil Mall s description of D hamatus 3 Fossil Museum s description of D monstrosus 4 Sources edit Monster Legacy Before StarBeast Prometheus nbsp This Odontopleurida related article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Dicranurus amp oldid 1180967755, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
