Lepidocoleus
| Lepidocoleus Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Annelida |
| Clade: | Pleistoannelida |
| Subclass: | Errantia |
| Order: | Phyllodocida |
| Family: | †Lepidocoleidae |
| Genus: | †Lepidocoleus Faber, 1886 |
| Species | |
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Lepidocoleus is a genus of extinct armored annelid worm in the class Machaeridia. Two notable species are L. caliburnus or the "Excalibur worm", and L. shurikenus, or the "shuriken worm". The creature had a "suit" of armor running down its body in the form of overlapping calcite crystals. This worm probably lived in shallow water reefs feeding on organic waste. It lived from the Hirnantian of the upper Ordovician to the Famennian of the Devonian.