Arctinurus boltoni is a large (up to 30 cm) lichid trilobite of the mid-Silurian. This trilobite reached about eight inches in length, though the normal adult carapace was about four inches. It lived in moderately deep-water in semi-tropical regions. Arctinurus fossils have been found in Europe and North America.

Arctinurus
Temporal range: Wenlock–Ludlow
Fossil of Arctinurus boltoni in the Field Museum of Natural History.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Trilobita
Order: Lichida
Family: Lichidae
Genus: Arctinurus
Castelnau, 1843
Species:
A. boltoni
Binomial name
Arctinurus boltoni
(Bigsby, 1825)

Arctinurus was first reported during the construction of the Erie Canal through soft Silurian shales and mudstones in upstate New York.[1] Before the late 1990s, complete Arctinurus fossils were very rare. The vast majority of complete specimens were commercially mined near Middleport New York, USA, in a shallow quarry in the Rochester Formation, and the trilobite is now relatively common in museum, university and private collections. Arctinurus tended to have epibionts attached to the carapace.

References

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  1. ^ Bigsby, John Jeremiah (1825). "Description of a New Species of Trilobite". Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 4 (2). Philadelphia: Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia: 365–368 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  • Whiteley, Thomas E; Kloc, Gerald J; Brett, Carleton E (2003). Trilobites of New York: An Illustrated Guide. Rochester: University of Rochester Press. ISBN 9780801439698.
  • Ludvigsen, Rolf (1982). Fossils of Ontario. Part 1: The Trilobites. Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum. ISBN 9780888542212.