CRYPTOLITHUS

genus of trilobites (extinct arthropods) found as fossils in Europe and North America in the Ordovician period (505 million to 438 million years ago). Its distinctive appearance makes the genus a useful guide fossil for Ordovician rocks and time. The head region, or cephalon, in Cryptolithus is large, with margins pitted in a distinctive pattern; two long spines project back from the lateral margins. The adults lack eyes.