Balizoma is a genus of
trilobites from the family
Encrinuridae established by David J. Holloway in 1980.[1] It has only been found in rocks of
Silurian age. Its
type species, B. variolaris (Brongniart, 1822), is currently the only named species of the genus, and is found in
England. The neotype of B. variolaris was collected from the
Much Wenlock Limestone Formation at
Dudley,
West Midlands.[2] That specimen was first illustrated in Sir
Roderick Impey Murchison's classic book, The Silurian System.[3]B. variolaris was the original "strawberry-headed" trilobite of Dudley, so-named because of its nodular glabellar tubercles, and well known to early trilobite collectors.[4] Additional species were originally assigned to Balizoma, but were subsequently placed in other encrinurine genera.[5][6]