**First Time At Auction**
Ancient Seas, Russia, St. Petersburg, Ordovician period, ca. 485.4 to 443.8 Million years ago. A remarkable fossilized trilobite within a stone matrix with spines pointing upwards from the head! These upturned genal spines give this trilobite the genus name of Illaenus tauriconis; tauriconis meaning "bull horned." This trilobite has been preserved in a slightly curved profile, as if about to roll into a defensive ball. The exoskeleton is prepared with most of the trilobite rising above the rest of the matrix. Size of fossil: 2" L x 2" W (5.1 cm x 5.1 cm); matrix: 4.75" L x 4" W x 2" H (12.1 cm x 10.2 cm x 5.1 cm); case: 6.125" L x 4.125" W x 3.375" H (15.6 cm x 10.5 cm x 8.6 cm)
Trilobites are a fossil group of extinct marine arthropods that form one of the earliest known groups of arthropods. The first appearance of trilobites in the fossil record defines the base of the Atdabanian stage of the Early Cambrian period (521 million years ago), and they flourished throughout the lower Paleozoic era before beginning a drawn-out decline to extinction when, during the Devonian, all trilobite orders except the Proetids died out. Trilobites disappeared in the mass extinction at the end of the Permian about 252 million years ago. Trilobites were among the most successful of all early animals, roaming the oceans for over 270 million years!
Provenance: ex-Stein collection, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, USA, acquired prior to 2010
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#164336
Condition
Restoration to the entirety of right genal spine. The other spine is reattached. Restoration to areas around and above both eye facets. Loss to tip of left spine. Displayed in acrylic case.