Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 23, 2026

Cyphaspis

Cyphaspis is a genus of small, proetid trilobite that lived from the Late Ordovician to the Late Devonian. Fossils have been found in marine strata in what is now Europe, Africa and North America. Various species had a compact body, and a large, bulbous glabellum. Many species had long spines arranged similarly to closely related genera, such as Otarian, Otarionella, Chamaeleoaspis, and Namuropyge.

Last revised
Jun 23, 2026
Read time
≈ 2 min
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Citations
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Source
Cyphaspis
Temporal range:
Cyphaspis sp. from Morocco
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Clade: Artiopoda
Class: Trilobita
Order: Proetida
Family: Aulacopleuridae
Genus: Cyphaspis
Burmeister 1843
Type species
Phacops ceratophthalma
Goldfuss 1843
Species

See text

Cyphaspis is a genus of small, proetid trilobite that lived from the Late Ordovician to the Late Devonian. Fossils have been found in marine strata in what is now Europe, Africa and North America. Various species had a compact body, and a large, bulbous glabellum. Many species had long spines arranged similarly to closely related genera, such as Otarian, Otarionella, Chamaeleoaspis, and Namuropyge.

Species

The following species in the genus Cyphaspis have been described:

  • C. anticostiensis
  • C. bellula
  • C. bluhmi Van Viersen & Holland, 20161
  • C. boninoi Van Viersen & Holland, 20161
  • C. bowingensis
  • C. buchbergeri Adrain & Chatterton, 19962
  • C. burmeisteri
  • C. ceratophthalma Goldfuss, 1843 (type)
  • C. ceratophthalmoides
  • C. clintoni
  • C. coelebs
  • C. convexa
  • C. craspedota
  • C. dereimsi
  • C. diadema
  • C. eximia Van Viersen & Holland, 20161
  • C. foumzguidensis Van Viersen & Holland, 20161
  • C. gaultieri
  • C. globosus3
  • C. heisingi Van Viersen & Holland, 20161
  • C. hoepfneri
  • C. hudsonica
  • C. hybrida
  • C. hydrocephala
  • C. ihmadii Van Viersen & Holland, 20161
  • C. insolata Van Viersen, Taghon & Magrean, 20194
  • C. iuxta Van Viersen, Taghon & Magrean, 20194
  • C. juergenhollandi Van Viersen & Holland, 20161
  • C. khraidensis Van Viersen & Holland, 20161
  • C. kippingi Van Viersen & Holland, 20161
  • C. koimeterionensis Van Viersen & Vanherle, 20185
  • C. kweberi Van Viersen & Holland, 20161
  • C. lerougei Van Viersen & Holland, 20161
  • C. lowei Adrain & Chatterton, 19962
  • C. mactavishi Adrain & Chatterton, 19962
  • C. maharchensis Van Viersen & Holland, 20161
  • C. matulina
  • C. megalops
  • C. minuscula
  • C. munii Adrain & Chatterton, 19962
  • C. partim
  • C. parvula
  • C. planifrons
  • C. punctillosa
  • C. raripustulosus
  • C. sibirica Schmidt, 1886
  • C. smeenki Van Viersen & Holland, 20161
  • C. spinulocervix
  • C. spryi
  • C. stephanophora
  • C. stigmatopthalmus
  • C. tadachachtensis Van Viersen & Holland, 20161
  • C. trentonensis
  • C. trigoda
  • C. walteri
  • C. yassensis

Distribution

Fossils of Cyphaspis have been found in:3

Devonian

Colombia (Floresta Formation, Altiplano Cundiboyacense), the Czech Republic, Morocco, United States (Alaska, Iowa, Oklahoma), and Uzbekistan

Silurian

Canada (Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Ontario), the United Kingdom, and the United States (Indiana, New York, Tennessee)

Ordovician

Sweden, and the United States (Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri)

References

References

Further reading

Further reading

External links