Moult configurations of the Ptychopariid trilobite Eosoptychoparia guizhouensis from the Cambrian Wuliuan Stage in Jianhe, Guizhou
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Abstract:
A large number of trilobite exuviae discarded during moult were collected from the Kaili Formation (Cambrian Miaolingian Series, Wuliuan Stage) in Guizhou, China. In this paper, 25 out of 308 specimens were identified as moulted exoskeletons of Eosoptychoparia guizhouensis, based on the preservation status of cranidium, librigenae, and rostral plate, the moulted configurations preservation of Eosoptychoparia guizhouensis follow three modes: Somersault’s configuration, Harrington’s configuration and Henningsmoen’s configuration, whose formation process is briefly discussed as follow. The exuviaes of E. guizhouensis, in mostly cases, display a typical moult configuration, in which the librigenae connected to the rostral plate as a whole moulted and scattered below or around the exuviae, and the cranidium was connected or slightly split to the thorax. It is indicated that E. guizhouensis mainly completes the moulting by breaking the cephalon sutures (facial suture and rostral suture), and the moult configurations of Somersault’s configuration, Harrington’s configuration and Henningsmoen’s configuration are formed due to the different movement patterns during the moulting process. By describing and explaining the moult modes and process in trilobite E. guizhouensis, this paper provides new materials for the moult configurations and process in Ptychopariid trilobites.
