PBDB Taxon

Basic info	Taxonomic history	Classification	Included Taxa
Morphology	Ecology and taphonomy	External Literature Search	Age range and collections

Cheirurus

Artiopoda - Phacopida - Cheiruridae

Taxonomy

Cheirurus was named by Beyrich (1845). Its type is Cheirurus insignis.

It was assigned to Cheirurinae by Raymond (1916); to Phacopida by Sepkoski (2002); and to Cheiruridae by Warburg (1925), Jell and Adrain (2002).

Species

C. (Cheirurus), C. (Crotalocephalina), C. (Pseudosphaerexochus), C. clasonii, C. dilatatus, C. glaber, C. juvenis, C. marianus, C. niagarensis (syn. Ceraurus insignis), C. nuperus, C. patens, C. percensis, C. punctatus, C. tarquininus, C. welleri

Species lacking formal opinion data

C. africanus, C. bimucronatus, C. brevispinosus, C. cordai, C. dravidicus, C. fortis, C. gaertneri, C. gotlandicus, C. infensus, C. neomyops, C. obtusatus, C. obtusatus, C. phollikodes, C. prolixus, C. propinquus, C. quenstedti, C. racemifer, C. strux, C. submitis

Entered

by J. Sepkoski on 2003-01-23; modified by P. Novack-Gottshall on 2026-06-12

Synonymy list

Year	Name and author
1845	Cheirurus Beyrich
1916	Cheirurus Raymond p. 30
1925	Cheirurus Warburg
2002	Cheirurus Jell and Adrain p. 357
2002	Cheirurus Sepkoski

Is something missing? Join the Paleobiology Database and enter the data

Rank	Name	Author
kingdom	Animalia	()
—	Bilateria
—	Eubilateria	Ax 1987
—	Protostomia
—	Ecdysozoa	Aguinaldo et al. 1997
—	Panarthropoda
phylum	Arthropoda	Gravenhorst 1843

Rank	Name	Author
class	Artiopoda	Hou and Bergstrom
class	Trilobita	Walch 1771
order	Phacopida	Salter 1864
suborder	Cheirurina	Harrington and Leanza 1957
family	Cheiruridae	Hawle and Corda 1847
genus	Cheirurus	Beyrich 1845

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

G. †Cheirurus Beyrich 1845

show all | hide all

Subg. †Cheirurus (Cheirurus) Beyrich 1845

hide

†Cheirurus (Cheirurus) insignis Beyrich 1845

Subg. †Cheirurus (Crotalocephalina) Přibyl and Vanék 1964

hide

†Cheirurus (Crotalocephalina) oxina Holloway and Neil 1982

Subg. †Cheirurus (Pseudosphaerexochus) Schmidt 1881

†Cheirurus clasonii Törnquist 1905

†Cheirurus dilatatus Raymond 1916

†Cheirurus glaber Angelin 1854

†Cheirurus juvenis Salter 1848

†Cheirurus marianus Verneuil and Barrande 1855

†Cheirurus niagarensis Hall 1868

hide

Invalid names: Ceraurus insignis Hall 1852 [synonym]

†Cheirurus nuperus Billings 1866

†Cheirurus patens Raymond 1916

†Cheirurus percensis Cooper and Kindle 1936

†Cheirurus punctatus Angelin 1854

†Cheirurus tarquininus Billings 1863

†Cheirurus welleri Raymond 1916

Diagnosis

No diagnoses are available

Measurements

No measurements are available

Composition:

low Mg calcitec

Composition 2:

chitinc

Entire body:

yesg

Adult length:

10 to < 100g

Adult width:

10 to < 100g

Spines:

majorg

Ontogeny:

molting, addition of partsc

Environment:

marinec

Locomotion:

fast-movingc

Life habit:

low-level epifaunalc

Diet:

carnivoref

Vision:

well-developedg

Comments:

BODY SIZE: Data from Harrington et al. (1959).g

Created:

2009-06-09 12:25:18

Modified:

2010-01-13 06:00:04

Source: g = genus, f = family, c = class

References: Aberhan et al. 2004, Harrington et al. 1959, Hendy 2009

Age range: base of the Darriwilian to the top of the Givetian or 469.40000 to 382.31000 Ma

Collections (104 total)

Time interval	Ma	Country or state	Original ID and collection number
Darriwilian	469.4 - 458.2	Myanmar (Shan State)	C. dravidicus (279735)
Costonian - Marshbrookian	458.2 - 454.0	China (GanSu)	C. sp. (8548)
Sandbian	458.2 - 452.8	Kazakhstan	C. sp. (80224)
Actonian - Onnian	454.0 - 449.5	China (AnHui)	C. sp. (7848)
Katian	452.8 - 445.2	China (Jiangxi)	C. sp. (25837)
Katian	452.8 - 445.2	Myanmar (Shan State)	C. submitis (279729)
Edenian - Gamachian	451.0 - 443.1	Canada (Quebec)	C. percensis (37800)
Harju	450.5 - 443.1	Sweden	C. sp. (378 379)
Kralodvorian - Rawtheyan	450.1 - 445.2	Czechia	C. fortis (238013)
Richmondian - Gamachian	449.6 - 443.1	Canada (Quebec)	C. percensis (37790)
Pirgu	449.5 - 445.2	Sweden	C. sp. (161779)
Pirgu - Hirnantian	449.5 - 443.1	Sweden (Dalarna)	C. sp. (158137)
Pirgu - Hirnantian	449.5 - 443.1	Sweden (Dalarne)	C. sp. (73408)
Rawtheyan	448.8 - 445.2	United Kingdom (England)	C. glaber (161737)
Hirnantian	445.2 - 443.1	Canada (Quebec)	C. sp. (194180)
Llandovery	443.1 - 432.9	USA (Iowa)	C. sp. (24946)
Silurian	443.1 - 419.62	USA (Oklahoma)	C. sp. (528)
Silurian	443.1 - 419.62	Australia (Victoria)	C. sp. (10199)
Aeronian	440.5 - 438.6	Greenland	C. sp. (23053)
Aeronian	440.5 - 438.6	United Kingdom (England)	C. sp. (453 454)
Telychian	438.6 - 432.9	Canada (Yukon Territory)	C. sp. (23100)
Telychian	438.6 - 432.9	United Kingdom (Wales)	C. sp. (50153)
Telychian	438.6 - 432.9	United Kingdom (Shropshire)	C. sp. (49580)
Telychian	438.6 - 432.9	USA (Iowa)	C. sp. (25015)
Telychian	438.6 - 432.9	Canada (Ontario)	C. sp. (77332)
Telychian - Sheinwoodian	438.6 - 430.6	USA (Iowa)	C. sp. (26769)
Telychian - Wenlock	438.6 - 426.7	USA (Iowa)	C. sp. (25024)
Sheinwoodian	432.9 - 430.6	Czechia	C. insignis (14046 14051 14093 14094) C. obtusatus (14096) C. obtusatus, C. insignis (14123) C. sp. (14124)
Sheinwoodian	432.9 - 430.6	USA (New York)	C. niagarensis (82584)
Sheinwoodian	432.9 - 430.6	USA (Wisconsin)	C. niagarensis (13069 13075)
Wenlock	432.9 - 426.7	USA (Tennessee)	C. niagarensis (26788)
Wenlock	432.9 - 426.7	Canada (Northwest Territories)	C. sp. (26061 26062 26063)
Wenlock	432.9 - 426.7	USA (Arkansas)	C. phollikodes, C. prolixus (26020)
Wenlock	432.9 - 426.7	Czechia	C. insignis (14090 14091)
Wenlock	432.9 - 426.7	Ukraine	C. insignis (23349)
Wenlock	432.9 - 426.7	Australia (Australian Capital Territory)	C. sp. (25679)
Wenlock	432.9 - 426.7	USA (Wisconsin)	C. sp. (26808)
Wenlock	432.9 - 426.7	USA (Oklahoma)	C. phollikodes (26021)
Wenlock	432.9 - 426.7	USA (Indiana)	C. dilatatus (24940)
Wenlock	432.9 - 426.7	USA (Iowa)	C. sp. (25019 25031 25032)
Wenlock	432.9 - 426.7	India	C. sp. (36259)
Wenlock	432.9 - 426.7	USA (New York)	C. niagarensis (81906) C. sp. (472 541 12933 13047)
Wenlock - Ludlow	432.9 - 422.7	USA (Wisconsin)	C. niagarensis (24937) C. sp. (24942)
Wenlock - Ludlow	432.9 - 422.7	USA (Illinois)	C. niagarensis (24935 24936 24938 24939) C. patens (24943)
Wenlock - Pridoli	432.9 - 419.62	USA (California)	C. insignis (214346)
Wenlock - Silurian	432.9 - 419.62	USA (Wisconsin)	C. niagarensis (13104 13107)
Homerian	430.6 - 426.7	Czechia	C. insignis (14050 14065 14102) C. obtusatus (14048 14098) C. sp. (14055 14097)
Gorstian	426.7 - 425.0	Algeria	C. sp. (27153)
Gorstian	426.7 - 425.0	Czechia	C. obtusatus (14049) C. sp. (14125)
Ludlow	426.7 - 422.7	USA (California)	C. insignis (229581)
Ludlow	426.7 - 422.7	Morocco	C. obtusatus (27029) C. strux (27053)
Ludlow	426.7 - 422.7	USA (Oklahoma)	C. infensus (26823)
Ludlow	426.7 - 422.7	Ukraine	C. sp. (23357)
Ludfordian	425.0 - 422.7	Austria	C. propinquus (13909)
Ludfordian	425.0 - 422.7	Sweden (Gotland)	C. gotlandicus (13572)
Ludfordian	425.0 - 422.7	Czechia	C. sp. (14072)
Ludfordian - Pridoli	425.0 - 419.62	USA (Oklahoma)	C. infensus (26824)
Pridoli	422.7 - 419.62	Ukraine	C. sp. (23429)
Pridoli	422.7 - 419.62	Morocco	C. bimucronatus (27367) C. quenstedti (27336)
Lochkovian	419.62 - 413.02	Morocco	C. sp. B (27036)
Lochkovian	419.62 - 413.02	Kazakhstan	C. sp. (24743)
Lochkovian	419.62 - 413.02	Australia (Victoria)	C. oxina (182206) C. sp. (7196)
Helderbergian - Emsian	419.62 - 393.47	Austria	C. sp. (26201)
Pragian	413.02 - 410.62	Morocco	C. brevispinosus (27061)
Pragian	413.02 - 410.62	Morocco (Anti-Atlas)	C. sp. 1 (136451) C. sp. 1 Johnson & Fortey 2012 (136391)
Pragian	413.02 - 410.62	Australia (Victoria)	C. sp. (234674 234675)
Pragian	413.02 - 410.62	Italy (Sardinia)	C. gaertneri (26162)
Givetian	387.95 - 382.31	Germany	C. neomyops (5907)