Ancient Seas, Russia, St. Petersburg, Volkhov River, Ordovician Period, ca. 485.4 to 443.8 Million years ago. Two charming fossilized trilobites captured on a stone matrix from where they once patrolled the ocean floor! These are both from the genus Asaphus (Neoasaphus) kowalewskii, notable for the lengthy stalked eyes known as peduncles. The larger shows off the full length of the segmented body, and the smaller is folded nearly in half, as is about to roll into a defensive ball. These "sea bugs" are truly adorable with their stalked eyes that give them a cartoonish appearance. Size large trilobite: 2.5" L x 1.75" W (6.4 cm x 4.4 cm); matrix: 5" L x 4" W x 1.5" H (12.7 cm x 10.2 cm x 3.8 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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#164293
Condition
Restoration to cephalon of larger trilobite. Eye stems are reattached on both trilobites. Stable fissures across larger trilobite. Felt padding added to base of matrix for stability.