WHERE THE HARPETIDS ARE: PALEOBIOGEOGRAPHY, DIVERSITY, AND MASS EXTINCTION IN AN ENIGMATIC TRILOBITE ORDER

This study seeks to better understand the evolutionary history of the trilobite order Harpetida by exploring that group’s paleobiogeography. Stratigraphic age and locality data from the PBDB are combined and plotted using the PaleoData Plotter Program to reconstruct harpetid paleogeographic distribution through time. Latitudinal and paleocontinental affinities are tracked across a recent harpetid phylogenetic tree. Particular attention is paid to relationships between distribution and species richness and between distribution and resilience to mass extinction. These relationships provide insights that may elucidate the broader role of biogeography in the story of evolution.