typical
'Metacanthina'
from southern Morocco
January 2001:
typical
'Metacanthina'
from southern Morocco
Most of the Moroccan trilobites referred to Metacanthina are now known as Hollardops. Two species from the Issoumour region were described as Philipsmithiana hyfinkeli and P. burtandmimae by Lieberman and Kloc, 1997. The new genus however seems not to have priority as Pierre Morzadec, 1997 has priority with his genus Hollardops. Therefore, all former Metacanthinas from SE Morocco are referred to as Hollardops, not Philipsmithiana.
For all those collectors with the common black Metacanthinas from the Devonian of Morocco, it is most likely that they are now Hollardops hyfinkeli or H. mesocristata.There are however, numerous species including: H. burtandmimae, H. struvei, and H. lemaitreae. One unusual characteristic of this genus is that the species have 10 thoracic segments rather than 11. I'm not sure whether this probable neotonic feature is always the case. Please forward any information to me that you may have on this character.