asaphidae
|a-saph-i-dae|
🇺🇸
/ˌæsəˈfaɪdi/
🇬🇧
/ˌæsəˈfaɪdiː/
trilobite family
Etymology
'Asaphidae' originates from New Latin, formed from the genus name 'Asaphus' plus the standard zoological family suffix '-idae' indicating a family.
'Asaphidae' derives from the genus name 'Asaphus' (established in Linnaean-style taxonomy in the 19th century); the family-level name was later constructed by adding the suffix '-idae' to denote the family of related genera.
Initially the root referred to the genus name 'Asaphus'; over time the formed term 'Asaphidae' came to denote the broader taxonomic family of trilobites related to that genus.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
a family of extinct marine arthropods (trilobites) in the order Asaphida, known mainly from Paleozoic rocks—especially the Ordovician period; characterized in many genera by a broad, smooth cephalon and a relatively flat exoskeleton.
Fossils of the Asaphidae are common in several Ordovician formations.
Noun 2
a member (individual) of the family Asaphidae; (term often used as 'asaphid').
The museum displayed an asaphid specimen collected from an Ordovician shale.
Last updated: 2025/10/25 10:00