1.8" Illaenus Tauricornis Trilobite - Russia

Illaenus Tauricornis Trilobite - Russia #178243

This is a 1.8" long (if outstretched) example of the Middle Ordovician trilobite Illaenus tauricornis. It comes from the Vilpovitsy quarry near St. Petersburg, Russia and is nicely prepared. The genal spines have been prepared free of the surrounding limestone.

Photo of the Vilpovitsy quarry near St. Petersburg Russia where this trilobite was found.

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 with over 25k currently described species, filling nearly every evolutionary niche. Due in large part to a hard exoskeleton (shell), they left an excellent fossil record.

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