Eldredgeops Crassituberculata
Figure 1. LaFarge Quarry, Paulding, Ohio
We’re kicking off today’s blog post by looking at an exceptional example of E. crassituberculata from the famous La Farge quarry in Paulding, Ohio. These trilobites are from the Middle Devonian, Silica Shale Formation.
The Paulding quarry was once a mecca for all fossil clubs in the Mid-West eager to collect the beautifully enrolled and sometimes prone trilobites from the blast piles.
Unfortunately, it is no longer possible to collect from the quarry and these fossils are now only available from old collections or from a lucky find at the “Paulding County Community Fossil Garden”, where La Farge continue to support the collectors thirst for these classic Ohio trilobites.
Eldredgeops is a recently introduced genus (1990), replacing Phacops as the name for the common North American Devonian Phacopid trilobite. The change was necessary to distinguish between morphological differences observed in Phacopid trilobites on the African and European edge of the Rheic Ocean and those on the N. American edge.
Calymmene latifrons, the first Phacopid trilobite to be described, was found in Gerolstein, Germany. Unfortunately the holotype was lost and topotype material was used until a neotype specimen was designated in 2006. The neotype was designated Phacops latifrons and is now the definitive specimen for the description of Phacops. When a change in name was suggested, it was the N. American trilobite that received the new genus name as the European trilobite had been described first.
For a really good understanding of the differences between the 2 genera, follow this link: Phacops Vs Eldredgeops
The post is on The Fossil Forum and is by Gerry Kloc, dated June 8, 2014.
Eldredgeops crassituberculata
Order: Phacopida - Family: Phacopidae
Age: Middle Devonian
Location: Paulding, Ohio, U.S.A.
Formation: Silica Shale Formation
Figure 2. Enrolled Eldredgeops crassituberculata