Paladin (trilobite)

Paladin is a genus of trilobite which lived 354–259 Ma, during the Late Paleozoic era; more specifically, during the Carboniferous and Permian periods. It was widespread: fossils have been discovered in what are now East Asia, Europe and North America.^[2][3][4]

Paladin Temporal range: Carboniferous – Permian, 353.8–259.0 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Artist's reconstruction of Paladin morrowensis.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Clade:	†Artiopoda
Class:	†Trilobita
Order:	†Proetida
Family:	†Proetidae
Genus:	†Paladin Weller, 1936[1]

The genus was erected in 1936 by J. M. Weller.^[1] The name derives from the paladins, the semi-legendary twelve foremost knights of Emperor Charlemagne (748–814).

Paladin was a fast-moving low-level epifaunal deposit feeder; that is, it scavenged at the bottom of shallow marine or brackish waters.

Species

Approximately fifty species have been assigned to the genus;^[5] the following are accepted:^[2]

• P. eichwaldi shunnerensis (King, 1914). 326.4–318.1 Ma, Great Shunner Fell, England. Synonyms Griffithides shunnerensis, P. shunnerensis, Weberides shunnerensis.
• P. helmsensis (Whittington, 1954). 339.4–318.1 Ma, Texas.
• P. iwaizakiensis (Kobayashi and Hamada, 1984). 265.0–259.0 Ma, Japan.
• P. morrowensis (Mather, 1915). 318.1–314.6 Ma, Oklahoma. Synonym Griffithides morrowensis.
• P. mucronatus (Girty, 1910). 339.4–336.0 Ma, Arkansas and Oklahoma. Synonym Griffithides mucronatus.
• P. opisthops (Kobayashi and Hamada, 1979). 314.6-306.95 Ma, Thailand.
• P. veeravurusi (Kobayashi and Hamada, 1979). 314.6-306.95 Ma, Thailand.