Odontopleuridae is a family of odontopleurid trilobites found in marine strata throughout the world. Odontopleurids of Odontopleuridae first appear in Late Cambrian-aged marine strata, and the last genera perish by the end of the Frasnian stage during the Late Devonian. The members of Odontopleuridae are famous for their spinose appearance, having long, often numerous spines along the edges of their exoskeletons, and derived from ends of segments or tubercle ornaments.

From Wikipedia article at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odontopleuridae, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 4.0.

Source Data

Source	ID	Link
Global Biodiversity Information Facility ID (GBIF)	3267075	https://www.gbif.org/species/3267075
PaleoBioDB ID (PBDB)	56895	https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=56895

Rank

family

Taxonomy (GBIF)

Life : Animalia : Arthropoda : Trilobita : Lichida : Odontopleuridae

Taxonomy (PBDB)

Life : Animalia : Arthropoda : Trilobita : Odontopleurida : Odontopleuridae

Taxonomic Status (GBIF)

accepted

Classification
(PBDB,GBIF)

Rank	Name	Author
-	Eukaryota
-	Opisthokonta	Cavalier-Smith 1987
kingdom	Animalia
-	Bilateria
-	Eubilateria	Ax 1987
-	Protostomia	Grobben 1908
-	Ecdysozoa
-	Panarthropoda
phylum	Arthropoda	Latreille 1829
subphylum	Mandibulata
class	Trilobita	Walch 1771
order	Odontopleurida	Whittington 1959
family	Odontopleuridae	Burmeister 1843

Scientific Name

Odontopleuridae

Opinions (PBDB)

Name	Rank	Opinion	Evidence	Author
Odontopleuridae	family	belongs to Lichida	stated with evidence	Whittington et al., 1997
Odontopleuridae	family	belongs to Odontopleuroidea	stated without evidence	Feist, 2002
Odontopleuridae	family	belongs to Lichida	stated without evidence	Owens and Fortey, 2009
Odontopleuridae	family	belongs to Odontopleurida	stated with evidence	Adrain, 2011

Status (PBDB)

extinct

Taxon Size (PBDB)

159

First Recorded Appearance

501 - 485 Ma
Cambrian

Last Recorded Appearance

380 - 376 Ma
Late/Upper Devonian

Environment

marine (based on Trilobita)

Motility

fast-moving (based on Trilobita)

Vision

well-developed

Diet

carnivore

Ontogeny

molting,addition of parts (based on Trilobita)

Ecospace Comments

BODY SIZE: Based on component genera; 7 of 8 genera share 10 to < 100 length, 7 of 8 share 10 to < 100 width.
JA: carnivorous according to Fortey and Owens 1999

Taphonomy

low Mg calcite, chitin (based on Trilobita)

Primary Reference (PBDB)

R. Feist. 2002. Trilobites from the latest Frasnian Kellwasser Crisis in North Africa (Mrirt, central Moroccan Meseta). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 47(2):203-210

Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odontopleuridae

Fossil Distribution

Subtaxa

Name	Status	Common Name(s)	Fossil Occurrences	Oldest
👁 Image Acidaspidinae ✝ subfamily	listed (PBDB)
👁 Image Apianurinae ✝ subfamily	listed (PBDB)	59	472 Ma Early/Lower Ordovician	445 Ma Late/Upper Ordovician
👁 Image Ceratocephalinae ✝ subfamily	listed (PBDB)	9	461 Ma Middle Ordovician	461 Ma Middle Ordovician
👁 Image Koneprusiinae ✝ subfamily	listed (PBDB)	1	393 Ma Early/Lower Devonian	393 Ma Early/Lower Devonian
👁 Image Miraspidinae ✝ subfamily	listed (PBDB)	195	479 Ma Early/Lower Ordovician	403 Ma Early/Lower Devonian
👁 Image Odontopleurinae ✝ subfamily	listed (PBDB)	693	501 Ma Cambrian	388 Ma Middle Devonian
👁 Image Acidaspis ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	82	501 Ma Cambrian	426 Ma Silurian
👁 Image Anacaenaspis ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	26	443 Ma Silurian	427 Ma Silurian
👁 Image Apianurus ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	52	472 Ma Early/Lower Ordovician	445 Ma Late/Upper Ordovician
👁 Image Boedaspis ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	2	468 Ma Middle Ordovician	466 Ma Middle Ordovician
👁 Image Borkopleura ✝ genus	doubtful (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	2	431 Ma Silurian	431 Ma Silurian
👁 Image Calipernurus ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	5	461 Ma Middle Ordovician	450 Ma Late/Upper Ordovician
👁 Image Ceratocara ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	9	461 Ma Middle Ordovician	461 Ma Middle Ordovician
👁 Image Ceratocephala ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	155	479 Ma Early/Lower Ordovician	403 Ma Early/Lower Devonian
Ceratocephalina genus	accepted (GBIF)	No associated record in PBDB
👁 Image Ceratonurus ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	12	423 Ma Silurian	411 Ma Early/Lower Devonian
👁 Image Chlustinia ✝ genus	doubtful (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	1	461 Ma Middle Ordovician	461 Ma Middle Ordovician
👁 Image Dalaspis ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	10	443 Ma Silurian	439 Ma Silurian
👁 Image Diacanthaspis ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	63	479 Ma Early/Lower Ordovician	426 Ma Silurian
👁 Image Dicranurus ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	21	466 Ma Middle Ordovician	411 Ma Early/Lower Devonian
👁 Image Dudleyaspis ✝ genus	doubtful (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	23	443 Ma Silurian	380 Ma Late/Upper Devonian
👁 Image Eoleonaspis ✝ genus	doubtful (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	5	450 Ma Late/Upper Ordovician	441 Ma Silurian
👁 Image Exallaspis ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	31	443 Ma Silurian	431 Ma Silurian
👁 Image Gaotania ✝ genus	doubtful (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	4	441 Ma Silurian	439 Ma Silurian
👁 Image Globulaspis ✝ genus	doubtful (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	1	443 Ma Silurian	443 Ma Silurian
👁 Image Hispaniaspis ✝ genus	doubtful (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	3	461 Ma Middle Ordovician	450 Ma Late/Upper Ordovician
👁 Image Isoprusia ✝ genus	doubtful (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	5	411 Ma Early/Lower Devonian	393 Ma Early/Lower Devonian
👁 Image Ivanopleura ✝ genus	doubtful (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	3	441 Ma Silurian	431 Ma Silurian
👁 Image Kettneraspis ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	43	443 Ma Silurian	393 Ma Early/Lower Devonian
👁 Image Koneprusia ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	32	419 Ma Early/Lower Devonian	393 Ma Early/Lower Devonian
👁 Image Laethoprusia ✝ genus	doubtful (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	3	433 Ma Silurian	433 Ma Silurian
👁 Image Leonaspis ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	297	466 Ma Middle Ordovician	388 Ma Middle Devonian
👁 Image Meadowtownella ✝ genus	doubtful (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	7	470 Ma Middle Ordovician	433 Ma Silurian
👁 Image Miraspis ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	31	461 Ma Middle Ordovician	427 Ma Silurian
👁 Image Nevadaprusia ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)
👁 Image Odontopleura ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	37	461 Ma Middle Ordovician	408 Ma Early/Lower Devonian
👁 Image Orphanaspis ✝ genus	doubtful (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	1	450 Ma Late/Upper Ordovician	450 Ma Late/Upper Ordovician
👁 Image Periallaspis ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	1	485 Ma Early/Lower Ordovician	485 Ma Early/Lower Ordovician
👁 Image Proceratocephala ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)
👁 Image Radiaspis ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	31	450 Ma Late/Upper Ordovician	393 Ma Early/Lower Devonian
👁 Image Selenopeltis ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	62	485 Ma Cambrian	441 Ma Silurian
👁 Image Selenopeltoides ✝ genus	doubtful (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	2	441 Ma Silurian	439 Ma Silurian
👁 Image Stelckaspis ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	20	443 Ma Silurian	439 Ma Silurian
👁 Image Taemasaspis ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	17	441 Ma Silurian	380 Ma Late/Upper Devonian
👁 Image Uriarra ✝ genus	doubtful (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	1	433 Ma Silurian	433 Ma Silurian
👁 Image Whittingtonia ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	9	458 Ma Late/Upper Ordovician	441 Ma Silurian
Isoprusia mydlakia species	accepted (GBIF)	No associated record in PBDB

Synonymy List

Year	Name and Author
1843	Odontopleuridae Burmeister
1997	Odontopleuridae Whittington et al. p. 299
2002	Odontopleuridae Feist
2009	Odontopleuridae Owens and Fortey
2011	Odontopleuridae Adrain p. 105

References

Feist R. (2002) Trilobites from the latest Frasnian Kellwasser Crisis in North Africa (Mrirt, central Moroccan Meseta), Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 47 2, 203-210

Whittington H. B., Chatterton B. D. E., et al (1997) Trilobita. Introduction, Order Agnostina, Order Redlichiida. Volume 1, Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology O, 1-530

Owens R. M., Fortey R. A. (2009) Silicified Upper Ordovician trilobites from Pai-Khoi, arctic Russia, Palaeontology 52 6, 1209-1220

Adrain J. M. (2011) Class Trilobita Walch, 1771, Animal biodiversity: an outline of higher-level classification and survey of taxonomic richness 3148, 104-109

Benton, M.J. (ed). (1993). The Fossil Record 2. Chapman & Hall, London, 845 pp. - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera

SN2000: Brands, S. J. (compiler) 1989-2005. Systema Naturae 2000. Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2006 version). Available online at http://sn2000.taxonomy.nl/. - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera

extinct group - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera

Data courtesy of: PBDB: The Paleobiology Database, Creative Commons CC-BY licenced. , GBIF: the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, various licences, iDigBio, various licences, and EOL: The Encyclopedia of Life (Open Data Public Domain). Because fossils are made of minerals too!

Mindat.org® is an outreach project of the Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. Mindat® and mindat.org® are registered trademarks of the Hudson Institute of Mineralogy.
Copyright © mindat.org and the Hudson Institute of Mineralogy 1993-2026, except where stated. Most political location boundaries are © OpenStreetMap contributors. Mindat.org relies on the contributions of thousands of members and supporters. Founded in 2000 by Jolyon Ralph and Ida Chau.
To cite: Ralph, J., Von Bargen, D., Martynov, P., Zhang, J., Que, X., Prabhu, A., Morrison, S. M., Li, W., Chen, W., & Ma, X. (2025). Mindat.org: The open access mineralogy database to accelerate data-intensive geoscience research. American Mineralogist, 110(6), 833–844. doi:10.2138/am-2024-9486.
Privacy Policy - Terms & Conditions - Contact Us / DMCA issues - Report a bug/vulnerability Current server date and time: April 4, 2026 11:46:44 Page updated: December 13, 2025 19:50:24

Go to top of page

URL: https://www.mindat.org/taxon-3267075.html

⇱ Odontopleuridae

👁 Image
Odontopleuridae ✝

Fossil Distribution

Subtaxa

Synonymy List

References

URL: https://www.mindat.org/taxon-3267075.html

⇱ Odontopleuridae

👁 ImageOdontopleuridae ✝

Fossil Distribution

Subtaxa

Synonymy List

References

👁 Image
Odontopleuridae ✝