The trilobite is one of the best known and recognized fossils. The creature is made up of three different parts, the cephalon (head), the thorax (body), and the pygidium (tail). The creature was protected by a hard calcite shell and this is what remains fossilized to this day. This shell would not grow with the creature so the shell was molted away several times during the creature’s lifetime. Thus one trilobite may have left several fossils during its lifetime. The trilobite is the first creature known to have eyes, some believe that the trilobite had 360-degree vision. As trilobites were believed to be water scavengers, living off the ocean bottom, this 360-degree vision came in handy. The elrathia kingi trilobite and the asaphiscus trilobite are both approximately 550 million years old and are both found in grey or brown shale. The asaphiscus has a much larger pygidium (tail) than the elrathia. Like other fossils, the trilobites require a lot of work in cleaning and preparing the pieces for display.
Trilobite Elrathia
Trilobite Elrathia
