First Report of a Trilobite in the Carboniferous of Eastern Pontides, NE Turkey

The pre-Mesozoic basement of the Eastern Pontides consists of a Permo-Carboniferous sedimentary sequence including the Catalcesme and Hardisi formations. The Catalcesme Formation has yielded rich assemblages of fusulinids, corals, gastropods, brachiopods, bryozoans, algae, conodonts and plants. Hitherto trilobites were unknown from this formation; here we report the discovery of a pygidium from a dark grey limestone bed near the top. Trilobites are a minor component of benthic marine communities during the Late Pennsylvanian, and to our knowledge, the discovery of this pygidium constitutes the first report of their occurrence in deposits of this age in Turkey. The morphological characteristics of the specimen, especially the number of axial rings and pleural ribs and the well-defined border (Owens 1983), suggest that it probably belongs to an undescribed species of Ditomopyge Newell, 1931 (Ditomopyginae). It also exhibits a distortion of the posterior part of the axis, and a shortening (right side) or a fusion (left side) of some pleural ribs, which is tentatively interpreted as repaired injuries or the results of a developmental dysfunction.