Deiphon

From Paleos

Deiphon was a distinctive genus of phacopid trilobites found in Western and Central Europe, and in Central and Eastern United States. The type species, D. forbesi, from Bohemia, in what is now the Czech Republic, was discovered and described by the French paleontologist, Joachim Barrande in 1850.

The species of Deiphon were highly modified for a pelagic existence. The glabellum was inflated, and globular-shaped, and covered in small wart-like bumps. If it was filled with fat, or oil, the glabellum would have helped to have made the creature positively buoyant. The cheeks of the cephalon formed a pair of long, curved spines, and the segments of the pleural lobes were separated and elongated to form rib-like struts. These modifications, along with the pygidium forming a "V," give these trilobites a sort of cartoon "fish-skeleton" appearance. However, the spherical glabellum and the curved, rib cage-like pleural lobes would have been hindrances for hydrodynamic streamlining, so it is presumed that Deiphon species were not fast swimmers. Instead, Deiphon may have fed on phytoplankton, or small, slow-moving zooplankton, living at a slow, easy going pace compared to its streamlined, torpedo-like cousin Crotalocephalus.

Links

Reconstruction of D. forbesi [1]

Reconstruction of D. forbesi in comparison to Eurypterus remipedes [2]