Size: about 4,5 cm, 7,6 cm
The first trilobites were already in the early Cambrian to before about 570 million years ago and roamed the primeval seas nearly 300 million years, until their extinction in the Permian. Trilobites belong, as well as today's insects or crustaceans, to the arthropods (Arthropoda). These living exclusively in the sea, very earthy acting animals are characterized by a great variety of forms. To date, approximately 15,000 Trilobitenarten are known which are spread over 8 orders. The size of the trilobites ranges from a few millimeters up to a length of 75 cm.
Your greatest flowering reached the trilobites in the Cambrian and Ordovician. Due to the rapid evolution and the relative short life of each species they form excellent index fossils. The name trilobite in 1771 first introduced by the German professor Johann Ernst Immanuel Walch.
Not until the early 19th century this name prevailed in science. The Latin word trilobite (Dreilapper) refers to the typical trisection of Trilobitenpanzers. A trilobite is longitudinally composed of a head shield (Cephalon), a middle part (chest) and a tail plate (pygidium). Especially the species and variety of shapes make the trilobite a coveted and almost inexhaustible collection area.
Trilobites from Morocco
Location: Morocco, Ma'der, Taharajat, Oufaten
Era: Lower Devonian, Emsium, Tazoulait Formation
Age: 400 million years
