A LARGE TRILOBITE MASS MORTALITY PLAQUE WITH ADDITIONAL SOLITARY SPECIMEN

A LARGE TRILOBITE MASS MORTALITY PLAQUE 

JBEL OUGNATE, MOROCCO

A mass mortality of Acadoparadoxides briareus (125 x 105 x 5 cm), Paleozoic, Cambrian Series 2 (circa 521-509 million years ago). A beautiful plaque of green schist with a harmoniously arranged accumulation of 18 large finely preserved trilobite fossils. WITH: Another solitary specimen, presented in an oak frame (55 1/2 x 53 cm)

Trilobites are among the most ancient and archaic animals to have inhabited the planet, and are perhaps the most famous fossils after those of the dinosaurs. They are a class of marine arachnomorph arthropods that inhabited the seas during the Paleozoic Era, from the Cambrian through the Permien period. They existed in oceans for over 300 million years, with last of them disappearing during the mass extinction at the end of the Permien period, 250 million years ago —making them one of the most successful species to ever live. With its multitude of spines, in particular those arching over the eyes, this trilobite has the appearance of an alien creature, making it hard to imagine it imagine that they once inhabited our planet in multitudes.