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Dicranurus

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alt=Fossil Trilobite Dicranurus monstrosus|thumb|Dicranurus monstrosus

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alt=Fossil Trilobite Dicranurus monstrosus|thumb|Dicranurus monstrosus

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 or so, in length, though their large spines made them at least in length. Such tremendous spines are speculated to have hampered the ability of predators, such as arthrodire placoderms, to attack them, and 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.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Dicranurus” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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