Blackwelderia Walcott, 1906

Smith, Patrick M., Paterson, John R. & Brock, Glenn A., 2018, Trilobites and agnostids from the Goyder Formation (Cambrian Series 3, Guzhangian; Mindyallan), Amadeus Basin, central Australia, Zootaxa 4396 (1), pp. 1-67 : 22

Blackwelderia Walcott, 1906

Type species. Calymene ? sinensis Bergeron, 1899 .

Discussion. This genus has been discussed exhaustively by numerous authors (e.g., Walcott 1913; Kobayashi 1942; Lu et al. 1965; Öpik 1967; Park et al. 2013), yet the concept of the genus is still poorly understood. Park et al. (2013) suggested that this problem stems from a number of species erected on poorly preserved specimens, including the lectotype for Blackwelderia sinensis (Bergeron, 1899) , which come from weathered shale material in North China (see Peng et al. 2004a; Peng 2007). Such incomplete or poorly preserved specimens has led to taxonomic confusion with morphologically similar genera such as Damesella Walcott, 1905 and oversplitting of Blackwelderia (see Wang et al. 1989; Zhu & Wittke 1989; Guo et al. 1996 for expansive species lists). Park et al. (2013) suggested that a detailed morphological and taxonomic assessment of Blackwelderia is required to resolve the generic concept.