1.3" Rare, Red, Enrolled Harpes Trilobite - Hmar Laghdad, Morocco

This is a rare, red, harpid (Harpes hamarlaghdadensis) trilobite from Hmar Laghdad, Morocco. It's enrolled but would be about 1.3" long it outstretched. The head has been split down the middle and shifted slightly prior to fossilization. I've only seen a handful of complete harpids come from this locality.

The trilobites were hard to find complete at this location and according to my sources, the locality has been collected out recently, so the there probably won't be many more of these red trilobites coming onto the market.

The red coloration is due to high levels of iron in the silicified exoskeleton. A paper on this unique preservation can be found below.

Red Devonian trilobites with green eyes from Morocco and the silicification of the trilobite exoskeleton

Trilobites were a very diverse group of extinct marine arthropods. They first appeared in the fossil record in the Early Cambrian (521 million years ago) and went extinct during the Permian mass extinction (250 million years ago). They were one of the most successful of the early animals on our planet: over 25,000 species have been described, filling nearly every evolutionary niche. Due in large part to their hard exoskeletons (shells), they left an excellent fossil record.
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DETAILS
SPECIES
Harpes hamarlaghdadensis
LOCATION
Hmar Laghdad, Morocco
SIZE
1.3" long
SUB CATEGORY
ITEM
#146697
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