Greenops
Encyclopedia
Greenops is a mid-sized Devonian
trilobite
of the order Phacopida
, subfamily Asteropyginae.
They are mainly reported from the mid-Devonian Hamilton Group of upstate New York and southwestern Ontario. A similar-looking trilobite from Morocco is often mis-labelled Greenops.
Greenops has schizocroidal eyes (resembling compound eyes in insects), large genal spines and short, sharp spines at the tip of each segment of the pydgidium ("tail"). Greenops lived in warm, fairly deep water. In the Hamiltin Group of New York, they are found with Phacops
, Dipleura and Bellacartwrightia
, a trilobite that resembles Greenops but has much larger pygidial spines. In Ontario, they are found in the Widder Formation, which outcrops at Arkona, where they are, by far, the dominant trilobite.
Greenops average size is about 1 to 1.5 inches.Greenops are fairly common trilobites, and are very easily identified. While it is rare to find a complete Greenops disarticulated body segments and tails are fairly common. They are fairly common finds in late Devonian limestone, especially storm deposits. They are easily identified by their tails, which sport several spines. They were Medium to small sized trilobites, which were most likely preyed upon by ammonoids, straight cephalopods, sharks, and small placoderms, hence the defensive spines. All of these animals have been found in close association with this trilobite. Greenops can also be found in deep marine deposits, but there it is fairly rare. Greenops was a small, yet charmingly beautiful trilobite, like its close companion Phacops.
Devonian
The Devonian is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic Era spanning from the end of the Silurian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya , to the beginning of the Carboniferous Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya...
trilobite
Trilobite
Trilobites are a well-known fossil group of extinct marine arthropods that form the class Trilobita. The first appearance of trilobites in the fossil record defines the base of the Atdabanian stage of the Early Cambrian period , and they flourished throughout the lower Paleozoic era before...
of the order Phacopida
Phacopida
Phacopida is an order of trilobite that lived from the Ordovician to the Devonian. It is made up of a morphologically diverse group of related suborders....
, subfamily Asteropyginae.
They are mainly reported from the mid-Devonian Hamilton Group of upstate New York and southwestern Ontario. A similar-looking trilobite from Morocco is often mis-labelled Greenops.
Greenops has schizocroidal eyes (resembling compound eyes in insects), large genal spines and short, sharp spines at the tip of each segment of the pydgidium ("tail"). Greenops lived in warm, fairly deep water. In the Hamiltin Group of New York, they are found with Phacops
Phacops
Phacops is a genus of trilobite in the order Phacopida, family Phacopidae that lived in Europe and North American in the Silurian and Devonian periods. It was a rounded animal, with a globosa head and large eyes, and probably fed on detritus...
, Dipleura and Bellacartwrightia
Bellacartwrightia
Bellacartwrightia is a relatively uncommon genus of Phacopid trilobite, found in the mid-Devonian Hamilton Group of New York state, mainly in strata exposed near Lake Erie just west of Buffalo. This trilobite is usually about 1.5" to 2" long...
, a trilobite that resembles Greenops but has much larger pygidial spines. In Ontario, they are found in the Widder Formation, which outcrops at Arkona, where they are, by far, the dominant trilobite.
Greenops average size is about 1 to 1.5 inches.Greenops are fairly common trilobites, and are very easily identified. While it is rare to find a complete Greenops disarticulated body segments and tails are fairly common. They are fairly common finds in late Devonian limestone, especially storm deposits. They are easily identified by their tails, which sport several spines. They were Medium to small sized trilobites, which were most likely preyed upon by ammonoids, straight cephalopods, sharks, and small placoderms, hence the defensive spines. All of these animals have been found in close association with this trilobite. Greenops can also be found in deep marine deposits, but there it is fairly rare. Greenops was a small, yet charmingly beautiful trilobite, like its close companion Phacops.