Thaleops

Thaleops is an extinct genus of trilobite of the family Illaenidae. It lived from the Floian to the Katian of the Ordovician in what is now North America.

Thaleops Temporal range:
A Thaleops sp. from Mount horeb, Wisconsin
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	†Trilobita
Order:	†Corynexochida
Family:	†Illaenidae
Genus:	†Thaleops Conrad, 1843
Type species
†Thaleops ovata Conrad, 1843
Species
†T. ovata Conrad, 1843 †T. arctura Hall, 1847 †T. angusticollis Billings, 1859 †T. clavifrons Billings, 1859 †T. conifrons Billings, 1859 †T. conradi Billings, 1859 †T. vindex Billings, 1865 †T. punctata Raymond, 1905 †T. latiaxiata Raymond & Narraway, 1908 †T. fieldi Raymond, 1925 †T. marginalis Raymond, 1925 †T. viator Raymond, 1925 †T. groenlandica Troedsson, 1928 †T. depressicapitata Bradley, 1930 †T. borealis Teichert, 1937 †T. baffinlandica Roy, 1941 †T. lacerta Whittington, 1954 †T. longispina Shaw, 1968 †T. raymondi Shaw, 1968 †T. inflata Shaw, 1968 †T. adunca Chatterton & Ludvigsen, 1976 †T. mackenziensis Chatterton & Ludvigsen, 1976 †T. nunavutica Hammann, 1992 †T. zoppii Hammann & Leone, 1997 †T. anusacerbissima Amati & Westrop, 2004 †T. jaanussoni Amati & Westrop, 2004 †T. mobydicki Amati & Westrop, 2004 †T. laurentiana Amati & Westrop, 2004
Synonyms
†Nanillaenus? Jaanusson, 1954[1]

Thaleops can be told apart from other illaenids because of the cheek spines that many species posses under their eyes. Thaleops had a large distribution range, from Canada to some U.S states including Oklahoma, Wisconsin, and New York.[1] It is thought to have lived in shallow water, as a study published in Oklahoma found that deposits that contained Thaleops and the asaphid trilobite Bumastides contained 4 times as many trilobite genera, where associated with shallow water areas.[2]