Trilobite Extinct Arthropod Large Fossil in Display Box

Description

This is an authentic Trilobite fossil in a plastic display box.
This fossil is from Morocco.
Trilobites have been extinct for over 250 million years.
This large Trilobite is about 2 1/2" x 1 3/4".
The fossil comes in a unique Trilobite plastic display box and includes a laminated information card.
All fossils sold are authentic. No replicas.
Trilobite
Trilobite
, any member of a group of extinct
fossil
arthropods easily recognized by their distinctive three-lobed, three-segmented form. Trilobites, exclusively marine animals, first appeared at the beginning of the
Cambrian Period
, about 542 million years ago, when they dominated the seas. Although they became less
abundant
in succeeding geologic periods, a few forms persisted into the
Permian Period
, which ended about 251 million years ago.
Trilobites had three body lobes, two of which lay on each side of a longitudinal axial lobe. The trilobite body was segmented and divided into three regions from head to tail: the cephalon, or head region, separated from the
thorax
, which was followed in turn by the pygidium, or tail region. Trilobites, like other arthropods, had an external skeleton, called
exoskeleton
, composed of chitinous material. For the
animal
to grow, the exoskeleton had to be shed, and shed trilobite exoskeletons, or portions of them, are fossils that are relatively common.
Each trilobite body segment bore a pair of jointed appendages. The forwardmost appendages were modified into sense and feeding organs. Most trilobites had a pair of
compound
eyes; some of them, however, were eyeless.
TB009