An article published in the journal “Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology” reports the identification of a new species of trilobite that lived about 450 million years ago, in the Ordovician period, in today’s Tasmania. Dr. Patrick Smith of the Australian Museum Research Institute and Macquarie University and Dr. Malte Ebach of the University of New South Wales named it Gravicalymene bakeri assigning it to an already known genus and choosing the name of the species in honor of actor Tom Baker because he inspired them to become scientists by playing the protagonist of the famous TV show “Doctor Who”.
Trilobites form a class of marine arthropods that were enormously successful in the Paleozoic era, to the extent that the many thousands of species identified that had spread across the world are divided into taxonomic subgroups which are sometimes the subject of discussion. This is also true for various genera within the Calymenidae family which are considered separate but closely related. For example, the genera Apocalymene, Calymene, Flexicalymene, and Sthenarocalymene are considered very close to the genus Gravicalymene with the consequence that some species are sometimes reclassified.
Species classified in the genus Gravicalymene had already been discovered in Europe and North America, in the territories that were formerly part of the ancient continents Avalonia, Baltica, and Laurentia. Australia was part of Gondwana, and generally, the trilobites of the Calymenidae family are very rare in that area. Between 1997 and 2001, Dr. Malte Ebach found fossils of trilobites in Tasmania and now, together with his colleague Patrick Smith, in the light of the discoveries made and the new classifications discussed in the last two decades, he believed that it’s a species belonging to that family that the two researchers named Gravicalymene bakeri.
The image (Courtesy Smith & Ebach. All rights reserved), shows various views of the Gravicalymene bakeri specimens, including some details of one of them (A, D, E, F). Several specimens discovered in fossil deposits dating back to the Ordovician period have been attributed to the new species.
Patrick Smith and Malte Ebach chose the name of the species in honor of actor Tom Baker because they were both inspired to become scientists by watching the TV show “Doctor Who” and his Doctor was the one who had the greatest influence.
The amount of trilobite species identified is so great that another one makes the news only because it’s linked to a very famous TV show. However, it’s scientifically relevant because finding species of the Calymenidae family in today’s Australia is rare. This identification will help to better understand how they spread and their relationships among the various species.
