''Nanshanaspis'' is a genus of asaphid

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 Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Raphiophoridae Raphiophoridae is a family of small to average-sized trilobites that first occurred at the start of the Ordovician and became extinct at the end of the Middle Silurian. Anatomy All raphiophorids are blind, with headshields (or cephalons) tha ...

that lived during the late

Caradoc Caradoc Vreichvras (; Modern cy, Caradog Freichfras, ) was a semi-legendary ancestor to the kings of Gwent. He may have lived during the 5th or 6th century. He is remembered in the Matter of Britain as a Knight of the Round Table, under the na ...

Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. Like all raphiophorids it is blind, with a headshield (or

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 ...

) that is subsemicircular, carrying genal spines and a forward directed spine on the central raised area (or

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 ...

), with the front of the glabella inflated and the natural fracture lines (or sutures) of the cephalon coinciding with its margin. It is easily distinguished from most other raphiophorids by the 3

thorax The thorax or chest is a part of the anatomy of humans, mammals, and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main divisions of the cre ...

segments. '' Pseudampyxina'', ''

Taklamakania ''Taklamakania'' is a genus of asaphid trilobites of the family Raphiophoridae that lived during the late Caradoc of Inner Mongolia, China. Like all raphiophorids it is blind, with a headshield (or cephalon) that is subsemicircular, carrying ge ...

'', and ''

Kongqiangheia ''Kongqiaoheia rotundata'' is an asaphid trilobites of the family Raphiophoridae that lived during the late Caradoc of Inner Mongolia, China. ''K. rotundata'' was originally grouped with the so-called Taklamakaniinae, a paraphyletic group of ti ...

'' also have only 3 such segments, while all other raphiophorid genera have at least 5 thorax segments, leading to the erection of the subfamily "Taklamakaniinae" to contain these four genera.ZHANG WENTANG (CHANG WENTANG), 1980. On the Miomera and Polymera (Trilobita). Scientia Sinica 23, 223-234. "Taklamakaniinae" was dissolved and its members absorbed into Raphiophorinae when further study showed the close similarities the "taklamakaniids" had to the juvenile forms of various raphiophorinids. Specimens of ''Nanshanaspis'', for example, closely resemble juveniles of '' Globampyx trinucleoides''. The primary difference between ''Nanshanaspis'' and ''Taklamakania'' is the presence of a long spine emanating from the glabellum of ''Taklamakania'': ''Nanshanaspis'' differs from ''Pseudampyxina'' in the shape of the animals' respective glabella, and ''Nanshanaspis'' differs from ''Kongqiangheia'' in both glabella variation, and in the structure of the genera's respective pygidia.

References

Raphiophoridae Asaphida genera Ordovician trilobites of Asia Fossils of China Fossil taxa described in 1960 {{Asaphida-stub