Articulation, interlocking devices and enrolment inMonkaspis daulis(Walcott, 1905) from the Guzhangian, middle Cambrian of North China

Abstract

Monkaspis daulis (Walcott 1905) is the first enrolled trilobite to be documented from the Kushan Formation (Guzhangian, Cambrian Series 3) of Northern China. It has a wide pygidium that allowed a sphaeroidal enrolment type to be achieved, covering the cephalon and anterior trunk segments. Monkaspis daulis is micropygous, but the pygidium is proportionally larger than that of many other Cambrian trilobites, and there is a slightly variable number of segments in the trunk. Articulation structures are very well developed through the trunk, but interlocking or coaptative devices are poorly developed with the exception of the terrace lines and a novel structure, a ‘posterior arch’, in the pygidium, which would have prevented shear. The absence of genal spines that would otherwise have inhibited sinking into the mud substrate may have enabled Monkaspis daulis to use the enrolment procedure to excavate a hole in the sediment for taking shelter.