Cryptolithus — Cryptolithus
Cryptolithus Ghedoghedo, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY SA 4.0

Trilobite

Cryptolithus

Lace-collar trilobite

Cryptolithus is the blind Ordovician trinucleid with a wide, pitted fringe around the head, found in the Kope Formation of Ohio and Kentucky and in the Ordovician of Virginia and Wales. Whole specimens with the thorax and tail are uncommon because the animal moulted the fringe separately; cephala alone are frequent. A good Cryptolithus on Kope shale is an affordable prize.

PhylumArthropoda
ClassTrilobita
OrderAsaphida
FamilyTrinucleidae
GroupTrilobite
Rank (PBDB)genus· Paleobiology Database
AuthorGreen 1832· Paleobiology Database
Classification (PBDB)Arthropoda › Trilobita › Trinucleida › Trinucleidae· Paleobiology Database
Range (PBDB)471–443 Ma· Paleobiology Database
PBDB occurrences200· Paleobiology Database

Elsewhere

Cite this article

Stratum Strata. "Cryptolithus" (Taxon). Stratum Strata pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21. https://stratum.black/strata/taxa/cryptolithus. Accessed 2026-09-21.

@misc{stratum-cryptolithus,
  title        = {Cryptolithus},
  author       = {{Stratum Strata}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/strata/taxa/cryptolithus}},
  year         = {2026},
  note         = {Taxon article, Stratum Strata pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21; sources: stratum, pbdb, wikidata, commons. Accessed 2026-09-21.}
}

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