3.25" Morocconites Trilobite With Leonaspis - Ofaten, Morocco

Morocconites Trilobite With Leonaspis - Ofaten, Morocco #232705

This is a pair of trilobites from the Tazoulait Formation of Morocco. The larger specimen is a 3.25" long Morocconites malladoides with its distinctive pointed rostrum. The smaller trilobite is a 1.1" long, spiny Leonaspis. There is about 5% shell restoration on the thorax of the Morocconites.

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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