''Dicranurus'' (Greek, 'dikranon', a pitchfork, and 'oura', tail) is a genus of

Lower Lower may refer to: *Lower (surname) *Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) *Lower Wick Lower Wick is a small hamlet located in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is situated about five miles south west of Dursley, eight ...

Middle 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, wher ...

odontopleurid

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 ...

s that lived in a shallow sea that lay between

Euramerica Laurasia () was the more northern of two large landmasses that formed part of the Pangaea supercontinent from around ( Mya), the other being Gondwana. It separated from Gondwana (beginning in the late Triassic period) during the breakup of Pan ...

and

Gondwana Gondwana () was a large landmass, often referred to as a supercontinent, that formed during the late Neoproterozoic (about 550 million years ago) and began to break up during the Jurassic period (about 180 million years ago). The final stages ...

, corresponding to modern-day

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, and

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

, respectively. As such, their fossils are found in New York, Oklahoma, and Morocco. Their bodies averaged about or so, in length, though their large spines made them at least in length. It is speculated that such tremendous spines hampered the ability of predators, such as

arthrodire Arthrodira (Greek for "jointed neck") is an Order (biology), order of extinct armored, jawed fishes of the class Placodermi that flourished in the Devonian period before their sudden extinction, surviving for about 50 million years and penetratin ...

placoderms, to attack them, as well as to help prevent them from sinking into the soft mud of their environment. ''Dicranurus'' trilobites are distinguished from other odontopleurids by the pair of large, curled, horn-like spines that emanate from behind the glabellum. The genus name refers to these distinctive horns, in fact.

In popular culture

*''Dicranurus'' was an inspiration for an early version of an alien creature from the 2012 movie

Prometheus In Greek mythology, Prometheus (; , , possibly meaning "forethought")Smith"Prometheus". is a Titan god of fire. Prometheus is best known for defying the gods by stealing fire from them and giving it to humanity in the form of technology, know ...

. While the final design doesn't look much like ''Dicranurus'', the creature is still referred to as "trilobite" due to its inspiration.Monster Legacy: Before StarBeast — Prometheus
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External links

* Description of Haragan Formation, Oklahom

* Fossil Mall's description of ''D. elegans'

* Fossil Mall's description of ''D. hamatus'

* Fossil Museum's description of ''D. monstrosus'

Sources

Odontopleuridae Odontopleurida genera Devonian trilobites of Africa Devonian trilobites of North America {{Odontopleurida-stub