''Kootenia'' is a genus 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 ...

s of the family

Dorypygidae ''Dorypygidae'' is a family of trilobite belonging to the order Corynexochida. Genera * ''Atdabanella'' Repina 1965 * ''Basocephalus'' Ivshin 1952 * ''Bonnaria'' Lochman 1956 * ''Bonnia'' Walcott 1916 * ''Bonniella'' Resser 1937 * ''Bonnima'' Fr ...

. 118 specimens of ''Kootenia'' are known from the Greater

Phyllopod bed The Phyllopod bed, designated by USNM locality number 35k, is the most famous fossil-bearing member of the Burgess Shale fossil ''Lagerstätte''. It was quarried by Charles Walcott from 1911–1917 (and later named Walcott Quarry), and was t ...

, where they comprise 0.22% of the community. Its major characteristics are that of the closely related '' Olenoides'', including medium size, a large

glabella The glabella, in humans, is the area of skin between the eyebrows and above the nose. The term also refers to the underlying bone that is slightly depressed, and joins the two brow ridges. It is a cephalometric landmark that is just superior to ...

, and a medium-sized

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 ...

, but also a lack of the strong interpleural furrows on the pygidium that ''Olenoides'' has.

Synonyms

''Kootenia'' is sometimes believed to be a

junior synonym The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linna ...

of ''Olenoides'' due to the marked similarities, and the fact that the main difference between them seems to be variable.Coppold, Murray and Wayne Powell (2006). ''A Geoscience Guide to the Burgess Shale'', p.59. The Burgess Shale Geoscience Foundation, Field, British Columbia. .

References

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External links

* Burgess Shale fossils Corynexochida genera Dorypygidae Cambrian trilobites Burgess Shale animals Cambrian genus extinctions Wheeler Shale Paleozoic life of Newfoundland and Labrador {{Corynexochida-stub