Odontochile

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title: "Odontochile" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["devonian-trilobites-of-africa", "phacopida-genera", "trilobites-of-africa", "devonian-trilobites-of-asia", "devonian-trilobites-of-north-america", "silurian-trilobites-of-asia", "silurian-trilobites-of-north-america", "paleozoic-life-of-ontario", "dalmanitidae"] description: "Genus of trilobites" topic_path: "general/devonian-trilobites-of-africa" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odontochile" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Genus of trilobites ::

| fossil_range = | image = Odontochile sp lateral.jpg | image_caption = Odontochile sp., 73mm, collected near Hamar Laghdad, Morocco | taxon = Odontochile | authority = Hawle & Corda, 1847 | synonyms = Hausmannia | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = {{Species list |O. hausmanni|(Brongniart, 1822), (type), = Asaphus hausmanni |O. cristata|Hawle & Corda, 1847 |O. maccoyi|(Barrande) |O. seillouensis| |O. spiniferum|

Odontochile is a genus of trilobites in the order Phacopida, family Dalmanitidae.

These trilobites were fast-moving low-level epifauna and detritivore. They lived in the Devonian period, from 414 to 391 million years ago.

Distribution

Silurian of China; Silurian to Devonian of Australia and the United States; Devonian of Algeria, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Kazakhstan, Morocco and Spain.

Description

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Odontochile_dorsal.jpg" caption="doi-access= free}}"] ::

Differences with related genera

Reussiana is much like Odontochile, but has a much flatter exoskeleton, 17-21 pygidial axial rings, 15-18 pleural furrows and lacks a medial terminal spine.

Zlichovaspis has a subtriangular cephalon with a short median processus, a subtriangular pygidium, and a longer medial terminal spine. In Zlichovaspis (Devonodontochile) the anterior median processus is tongue-shaped, the terminal spine is even longer and slimmer, and uniquely, all elevated parts are perforated by large pores.

Dalmanites has genal spines that extend to the 8th thorax segment from the front. The facial suture (almost) coincides with the frontal glabellar furrow. Eye smaller, staying clear of the lateral and posterior border furrows. The hypostome is about as wide as long with three blunt denticles. Tips of the thorax segments point increasingly further backwards as these are situated nearer to the pygidium with the last one pointing parallel to the midline. The pleural furrows of the pygidium almost touch its margin.

Taxonomy

Species previously assigned to ''Odontochile''

• O. branisi = Francovichia branisi
• O. rugosa = Zlichovaspis rugosa

Genera that may be confused with ''Odontochile''

• Odontocheila, a genus of beetles

References

• Biolib
• Paleobiology Database
• Sepkoski, Jack Sepkoski's Online Genus Database – Trilobita
• Paleodirect

References

1. Delo, D.M.. (1940). "Phacopid trilobites of North-America".
2. Struve, W. Suborder Phacopina, p. O471-O472. ''in'' Moore, R.C. (ed.). [[Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology]]. Part O – Arthropoda (Trilobitomorpha). 1959
3. (2008). "Exoskeletal architecture, hypostomal morphology and mode of life of Silurian and Lower Devonian dalmanited trilobites". Bulletin of Geosciences.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::