Two 5"+ Asaphid Trilobites (One Dorsal, One Ventral) - Taouz, Morocco

Two + Asaphid Trilobites (One Dorsal, One Ventral) - Taouz, Morocco #189679

This is a pair of large, Ordovician, Asaphid trilobites collected near Taouz, Morocco. They are both about 5.4" long and one is preserved dorsally, while one is preserved ventrally. The hypostome (mouth plate) can even be seen on the ventral specimen. Restoration is pretty minimal, the left eye on the dorsal specimen and a bit of restoration one a repaired crack.

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