Cyphaspis, Austerops & Platyscutellum Trilobite Association

This is a natural association of three different types of trilobites from Ofaten, Morocco. There is a 1.6" long Platyscutellum with a 1.3" long Austerops lying on top of it and a spiny Cyphaspis right next to it. Total shell restoration on this piece is about 5% along repaired cracks.

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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