Article: Evolutionary and biogeographical implications of phylogenetic analysis of the late Palaeozoic trilobite Paladin

Phylogenetic analysis of 19 species assigned to the Carboniferous and Permian trilobite genus Paladin produced a single most parsimonious tree with four distinct branches termed Clades A to D. Clade A is made up of six species that are geographically restricted to the interior shelf regions of the United States and are assigned to Kaskia. Clade B of five species, which includes Paladin morrowensis (Mather), is known from the southern and western United States; these five species conform morphologically to the original diagnosis of Paladin. Clade C consists of five Visean to Namurian species from western and eastern Europe and at least three of the species should be assigned to Weberides. Clade D consists of two late Carboniferous and one early Permian species from the Ukraine, western Russia, and Spitsbergen. This c1ade is distinct from all the others analysed and probably represents a yet unnamed genus.