4.4" Partially Enrolled Drotops Trilobite With Exposed Hypostome

Partially Enrolled Drotops Trilobite With Exposed Hypostome #222349

This is a partially enrolled specimen of the giant phacopid trilobite Drotops megalomanicus. It has excellent, dark black shell which is covered in tiny bumps. Perfect eye facet preservation and as a bonus the hypostome (mouthplate) has been exposed on the underside of it's head.

About 3% shell restoration on the right hand side of its thorax.

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.

More About Trilobites