Irrottelus

Irrottelus is a genus of extinct trilobite that lived during the Cambrian period. The name Irrottelus was first used by the Swedish paleontologist Ernst Öpik in 1954. The genus was originally identified based on fossils found in the Downtonian stages of the Winn Field in Wales, which is a geological formation in the Swansea area.

Trilobites are a class of marine arthropods that had a body structure consisting of a cephalon, thorax and pygidium, which together formed an exoskeleton that had three distinct lobes. The Irrottelus genus is characterized by having a convex ventral pygidial axis and lack of lateral lobes on the cephalon, which distinguishes it from other trilobites.

Irrottelus fossils have been found in smaller number, making it harder to study the organism's body size and possible locomotion and behavior patterns. The discovery of these fossils contribute to the ongoing understanding of the evolutionary developments of trilobites during that period of geological history. Paleontologists are continuing to study the species and examine its position in a time period in which many species existed that are now extinct.