Laudoniidae

Webster, Mark & Bohach, Lisa L., 2014, Systematic revision of the trilobite genera Laudonia and Lochmanolenellus (Olenelloidea) from the lower Dyeran (Cambrian Series 2) of western Laurentia, Zootaxa 3824 (1), pp. 1-66 : 16

Family “ Laudoniidae ” Palmer & Repina, 1993

The subfamily Laudoniinae Palmer & Repina, 1993 was originally established to include the genera Laudonia and (tentatively) Olenelloides Peach, 1894 ( Palmer & Repina, 1993; although if Olenelloides was placed in the same subfamily as Laudonia, then Olenelloidinae Hupé, 1953 would have priority over Laudoniinae). Lieberman (1998) subsequently reassigned some material of Laudonia to a new genus Lochmanolenellus . The cladistic analysis presented by Lieberman (1998) found that both Lochmanolenellus and Olenelloides shared more recent common ancestry with Bristolia , Fremontella Harrington, 1956 , Nephrolenellus , Bolbolenellus Palmer and Repina, 1993 , Peachella , and Biceratops than with Laudonia bispinata , so Lochmanolenellus and Olenelloides were accordingly assigned to the Biceratopsidae Pack & Gayle, 1971 . Laudonia bispinata was determined to be the immediate sistertaxon to the Biceratopsidae , with Mummaspis occidens and Fritzolenellus truemani forming successive outgroups to the [Laudonia bispinata + Biceratopsidae ] clade ( Lieberman, 1998). For convenience, Lieberman (1998) grouped Laudonia, Mummaspis Fritz, 1992 , and Fritzolenellus Lieberman, 1998 into a paraphyletic “ Laudoniidae ”. Lieberman’s (1998) cladistic analysis is fraught with problems (e.g., character coding issues discussed following; similar coding problems have been identified in other taxa [ Webster, 2007a, 2009]). However, a revised analysis of the phylogenetic affinities of Laudonia is beyond the scope of the present paper, and Lieberman’s (1998) convention is followed herein.