# Ceraurus

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> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceraurus
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{{Short description|Genus of trilobites}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|Middle Ordovician|Late Ordovician}}
| image = Ceraurus plus baby, Late Ordovician, Trenton Group, Quebec, Canada - Houston Museum of Natural Science - DSC01562.JPG
| image_caption = Fossil ''Ceraurus'' with baby.
| taxon = Ceraurus
| authority = Green, 1832
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = 
| type_species = 
}}

'''''Ceraurus''''' is a genus of [cheirurid trilobite](/source/Cheiruridae) of the middle and, much more rarely, the upper [Ordovician](/source/Ordovician). They are commonly found in strata of the lower [Great Lakes](/source/Great_Lakes) region. These trilobites have eleven thoracic segments, a very small [pygidium](/source/pygidium) and long genal and pygidial spines.

''Ceraurus'' is quite common in the Ordovician of upstate [New York](/source/New_York_(state)), south-central and south-eastern [Ontario](/source/Ontario), and the [St. Lawrence Valley](/source/St._Lawrence_Valley) in Quebec, as well as in the [Canadian Arctic](/source/Canadian_Arctic). It and similar genera range in size from less than quarter an inch to well over five inches. Similar genera of trilobites occur in the Ordovician outcrops of the [Volkhov River](/source/Volkhov_River), near St. Petersburg, Russia.

The taxonomy of the genus is problematic, as the many variations of eye placement, decoration patterns of pustules, and spine length call the genus' defining characteristics into question. ''Ceraurus'' may, in fact, be at least four genera: ''Ceraurus'' [sensu stricto](/source/sensu_stricto), and the genera, ''Gabriceraurus'', ''Bufoceraurus'' and ''Leviceraurus''.

== References ==
{{Commons category}}
* Ludvigsen, Rolf, Fossils of Ontario: Part I: The Trilobites. Toronto: [Royal Ontario Museum](/source/Royal_Ontario_Museum), 1983.[https://archive.org/stream/fossilsofontario01bolt/fossilsofontario01bolt_djvu.txt]
{{Reflist}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q5063882}}

Category:Cheiruridae
Category:Phacopida genera
Category:Extinct animals of North America
Category:Ordovician trilobites of North America
Category:Middle Ordovician first appearances
Category:Late Ordovician extinctions
Category:Bromide Formation
Category:Paleozoic life of Ontario
Category:Verulam Formation
Category:Paleozoic life of British Columbia
Category:Paleozoic life of the Northwest Territories
Category:Paleozoic life of Nunavut
Category:Paleozoic life of Quebec

{{phacopida-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Ceraurus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceraurus) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceraurus?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.