A PAIR OF SPINY TRILOBITES

A PAIR OF SPINY TRILOBITES

ISSIMOUR, MOROCCO

Drotops armatus, (14 x 9.5 cm, and 10 x 10 cm), Middle Devonian (393-388 million years ago). A lovely pair, the bodies covered in spines, and with beautifully faceted eyes. Presented in a custom vitrine. 

Trilobites are a class of marine arachnomorph arthropods that inhabited the seas during the Paleozoic Era, from the Cambrian through the Permien period. They existed in oceans for over 300 million years, with last of them disappearing during the mass extinction at the end of the Permien period, 250 million years ago —making them one of the most successful species to ever live. With its multitude of spines, in particular those arching over the eyes, this trilobite has the appearance of an alien creature, making it hard to imagine it imagine that they once inhabited our planet in multitudes.