''Laudonia'' is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

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 during the early part of the Botomian stage, which lasted from approximately 524 to 518.5 million years ago. This faunal stage was part of the

Cambrian Period 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 ...

. There are currently two named species assigned to it.

Distribution

* ''L. bispinata'' has been collected from the Early Cambrian of Alberta ( Lower ''Olenellus'' zone, Mural Formation, Mumm Peak Section, immediately west of Mumm Peak and north of Mount Robson Provincial Park, near Mural Glacier) and of British Columbia (Cinnamon Peak-Whitehorn Mtn. Section: Dyeran) Canada.W. H. Fritz. 1992. Walcott's Lower Cambrian Olenellid trilobite collection 61k, Mount Robson Area, Canadian Rocky Mountains. Geological Survey of Canada Bulletin 432 (432)1-66) * ''L. amputata'' is found in the Early Cambrian of Alberta ( Lower ''Olenellus'' zone, Mural Formation, Mumm Peak Section, immediately west of Mumm Peak and north of Mount Robson Provincial Park, near Mural Glacier). * ''Laudonia'' sp. is mentioned from the Lower Cambrian of the Caborca Region, Mexico (Puerto Blanco Formation, Cerro Rajon).J. Stewart, M. A. S. McMenamin, and J. M. Morales-Ramirez. 1984. Upper Proterozoic and Cambrian rocks in the Caborca Region, Sonora, Mexico - physical stratigraphy, biostratigraphy, paleocurrent studies, and regional relations. U. S. Geological Survey Professional Papers (1309)1-33

References

Cambrian trilobites of North America Paleozoic life of Alberta Paleozoic life of British Columbia Olenelloidea {{Redlichiida-stub Cambrian genus extinctions