Nephrolenellus

Nephrolenellus
Conservation status
Fossil
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Trilobita
Order:	Redlichiida
Suborder:	Olenellina
Superfamily:	Olenelloidea
Genus:	Nephrolenellus
Species
N. multinodus N. geniculatus

Nephrolenellus is an extinct monophyletic genus of trilobite from the Superfamily Olenelloidea of the Order Redlichiida. It contains two fossil species: N. multinodus and N. geniculatus. All specimens are known from the Great Basin of California, Nevada, and Arizona with one specimen from Canada. Nephrolenellus occurred during the upper Dyeran (516 Ma-513 Ma) of the Lower Cambrian and thus is useful as a biostratigraphic marker for that strata. It has also been used to quantitatively study the effect of compaction on fossil morphology^[1].

Notes

1. ^ Webster, Mark, 2007, Ontogeny and evolution of the early Cambrian trilobite genus Nephrolenellus (Olenelloidea): Journal of Paleontology, v. 81, p.1168-1193. Retrieved on 23 November 2008.