Palaeolenus

{{Short description|Genus of trilobites}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = {{Geological range|518|517|Late Botomian}}{{cite journal|last= Sepkoski|first= Jack|title= A compendium of fossil marine animal genera (Trilobita entry)|journal= Bulletins of American Paleontology|volume= 364| pages= 560|year= 2002|url= http://strata.ummp.lsa.umich.edu/jack/showgenera.php?taxon=307&rank=class|access-date= 2008-01-12}}

| image = Palaeolenus douvillei pair.jpg

| image_caption = A pair of Palaeolenus douvillei, 7mm

| taxon = Palaeolenus

| authority = Mansuy, 1912

| synonyms = *Megapalaeolenus

• Schistocephalus
• Palaeolentus{{cite PBDB|taxon|21986|Palaeolenus}}

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision_ref = {{cite journal|last1= Lin|first1= Tianrui|last2= Peng|first2= Shanchi|year= 2004|title= New material of Palaeolenus (trilobite, Cambrian) from the eastern Yangtze Gorge Area, western Hubei|journal= Acta Palaeontologica Sinica|volume= 43|issue= 1|pages= 32–42|url= http://159.226.74.2/wxdata/En/Show.asp?id=2067|access-date= 2013-03-08|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160304072230/http://159.226.74.2/wxdata/En/Show.asp?id=2067|archive-date= 2016-03-04|url-status= dead}}

| subdivision =

• P. douvillei Mansuy, 1912

: synonyms P. brevicus, P. deprati, Megapalaeolenus deprati, M. majiashanensis , M. guizhouensis, M. magnus, M. granulatus, M. expanus, M. luquanensis

• P. lantenoisi Mansuy, 1912

: synonyms P. tingi, P. minor, P. planilimbatus, P. liantuoensis, P. yangziensis, Megapalaeolenus obsoletus, M. yichangensis

}}

Palaeolenus is an extinct genus of ptychopariid trilobites of the family Palaeolenidae. Species lived during the later part of the Botomian stage of the Cambrian Period, which lasted from approximately 524 to 518.5 million years ago. This faunal stage was part of the Cambrian Period