{{Short description|Extinct genus of trilobites}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = {{Fossilrange|Late Ordovician|Late Ordovician|Late Ordovician}} | image = Bulbaspis mirabilis.JPG | image_caption = ''B. mirabilis'' | taxon = Bulbaspis | authority = Chugaeva, 1956 | type_species = ''Ampyx bulbifer'' | type_species_authority = Weber, 1932 | subdivision_ranks = Species groups | subdivision_ref = <ref name=zzzz /> | subdivision = See text }}
'''''Bulbaspis''''' ("bulb shield") is a late Ordovician genus of asaphid trilobites of the family Raphiophoridae found primarily in upper Ordovician-aged deepwater marine strata of Kazakhstan, China, and possibly Tasmania. Species of ''Bulbaspis'' are similar to other raphiophorids such as ''Ampyx'' and ''Raphiophorus'', save that the long spine that emanates from the glabella of the latter two genera has been modified into a knob-like or bulb-like structure in ''Bulbaspis'' that developed incrementally in the animal's growth.<ref name=zzzz>Zhiqiang, Zhou, and Zhou Zhiyi. "Late Ordovician trilobites from the Zhusilenghaierhan area, Ejin Banner, western Inner Mongolia, China."MEMOIR-ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALASIAN PALAEONTOLOGISTS 32 (2006): 383. {{cite web|url=http://159.226.74.248:8000/pagelinks/140412.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2016-01-12 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160513002808/http://159.226.74.248:8000/pagelinks/140412.pdf |archivedate=2016-05-13 }}</ref> The function of the bulb is currently unknown: one hypothesis suggests sexual selection may have had a role in its evolution in the genus.<ref name=knell>Knell, Robert J., and Richard A. Fortey. "Trilobite spines and beetle horns: sexual selection in the Palaeozoic?." Biology letters 1.2 (2005): 196-199. [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc1626209/]</ref> thumb|220px|left|Individuals of ''B. brevis'', demonstrating development of the bulb
==Species== * ''ovulum'' group ** ''B. lageniformis'' <small>Zhou et al. 1982</small> ** ''B. ovulum'' <small>Weber 1948</small> ** ''B. ordosensis'' <small>Lu et al. 1976</small> * ''bulbifer'' group ** ''B. brevis'' <small>Zhou & Zhou, 2006</small> ** ''B. bulbifer'' <small>(Weber, 1932)</small> ** ''B. korlaensis'' <small>Zhang, 1981</small> ** ''B. mirabilis'' <small>Chugaeva, 1958</small> ** ''B. sphaerornatus'' <small>Chugaeva, 1958</small>
== See also == *List of trilobites
== References == {{Reflist}}
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Category:Raphiophoridae Category:Asaphida genera Category:Ordovician trilobites of Asia Category:Late Ordovician first appearances Category:Late Ordovician extinctions
{{Asaphida-stub}}