''Taklamakania'' 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 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'', '' Nanshanaspis'', and '' Kongqiangheia'' also have only 3 such segments, but all three lack the frontal spine that emanates from the glabellum of ''Taklamakania'' species. All other raphiophorid genera have at least 5 thorax segments. Three species, ''T. tarimensis'', ''T. tarimheensis'', and ''T. xinjiangensis'', have been assigned to this genus so far.

Etymology

The generic name ''Taklamakania'' refers to the

Taklamakan desert The Taklimakan or Taklamakan Desert (; zh, s=塔克拉玛干沙漠, p=Tǎkèlāmǎgān Shāmò, Xiao'erjing: , dng, Такәламаган Шамә; ug, تەكلىماكان قۇملۇقى, Täklimakan qumluqi; also spelled Taklimakan and Te ...

, the area where its fossils were found. The species epithet ''tarimensis'' is also a geographic derivation in reference to the

Tarim basin The Tarim Basin is an endorheic basin in Northwest China occupying an area of about and one of the largest basins in Northwest China.Chen, Yaning, et al. "Regional climate change and its effects on river runoff in the Tarim Basin, China." Hydr ...

, which includes the Taklamakan desert.

Evolution

Adult ''T. tarimensis'' are almost indistinguishable from juvenile '' Ampyxina powelli'', and it is assumed that ''Taklamakania'' developed from ''Ampyxina'' through paedomorphosis.

Junior homonym

* ''T. lepetzi'' = '' Paranemia bicolor ''(Ferrer & Yvinec, 2004) a tenebrionid beetle

References

Raphiophoridae Asaphida genera Ordovician trilobites of Asia Fossils of China {{Asaphida-stub