Corynexochida is an order of

trilobite Trilobites (; meaning "three lobes") are extinct marine arthropods that form the class Trilobita. Trilobites form one of the earliest-known groups of arthropods. The first appearance of trilobites in the fossil record defines the base of the At ...

that lived from the Lower

Cambrian The Cambrian Period ( ; sometimes symbolized C with bar, Ꞓ) was the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and of the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 53.4 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran Period 538.8 million ...

to the Late

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, whe ...

. Like many of the other trilobite orders, Corynexochida contains many species with widespread characteristics. The middle region of the

cephalon Cephalon, Inc. was an American biopharmaceutical company co-founded in 1987 by pharmacologist Frank Baldino, Jr., neuroscientist Michael Lewis, and organic chemist James C. Kauer—all three former scientists with the DuPont Company. Baldino s ...

(the glabella) is typically elongate, with the sides often spreading forward (pestle-shaped). Some species have glabellae that are ''effaced'', meaning they are smooth and show little detail. The glabellar furrows (when not effaced) typically have a splayed arrangement. In most species, the hind pair on either side of the cephalon become spines that point sharply backwards, and the spinose tips of the anterior pairs of thoracic segments tend to become more and more forward directed toward the

pygidium The pygidium (plural pygidia) is the posterior body part or shield of crustaceans and some other arthropods, such as insects and the extinct trilobites. In groups other than insects, it contains the anus and, in females, the ovipositor. It is compo ...

. The eyes are typically large. Pygidia are typically large, competing in size with the cephalon in some species. The tips of the thoracic segments of many Corynexochida species are spine-like (though in some species they are flush with the sides and smooth). The thorax can have 2-12 segments (rarely more), but they more typically have 7–8.

References

Order Corynexochida
- a site about the eight orders of trilobites. Prehistoric arthropod orders Cambrian trilobites Ordovician trilobites Silurian trilobites Devonian trilobites Trilobite orders Cambrian Series 2 first appearances Frasnian extinctions {{Corynexochida-stub