Name/Title
TrilobiteEntry/Object ID
2011.57.101Description
Description: Phylum: Arthropoda
Family: Phacopidae
Order: Phacopina
Species: calymenina
Common Name: Trilobite
Age: Early Ordovician to Late Devonian
Location: Utah
Description: Large, thick slab with (2) highly detailed fossils. Matrix is light tan while the fossils are beige.
Physical Characteristics:
Trilobites ( /'tra?l?ba?t/, /'tr?l?ba?t/; meaning "three lobes") are a well-known fossil group of extinct marine arthropods that form the class Trilobita. The first appearance of trilobites in the fossil record defines the base of the Atdabanian stage of the Early Cambrian period (526 million years ago), and they flourished throughout the lower Paleozoic era before beginning a drawn-out decline to extinction when, during the Devonian, almost all trilobite orders, with the sole exception of Proetida, died out. Trilobites finally disappeared in the mass extinction at the end of the Permian about 250 million years ago. The trilobites were among the most successful of all early animals, roaming the oceans for over 270 million years.When trilobites first appeared in the fossil record they were already highly diverse and geographically dispersed. Because trilobites had wide diversity and an easily fossilized exoskeleton an extensive fossil record was left, with some 17,000 known species spanning Paleozoic time. The study of these fossils has facilitated important contributions to biostratigraphy, paleontology, evolutionary biology and plate tectonics. Trilobites are often placed within the arthropod subphylum Schizoramia within the superclass Arachnomorpha (equivalent to the Arachnata),[3] although several alternative taxonomies are found in the literature.Trilobites had many life styles; some moved over the sea-bed as predators, scavengers or filter feeders and some swam, feeding on plankton. Most life styles expected of modern marine arthropods are seen in trilobites, with the possible exception of parasitism (where there is still scientific debate).[4] Some trilobites (particularly the family Olenidae) are even thought to have evolved a symbiotic relationship with sulfur-eating bacteria from which they derived food.[5]
Family: Phacopidae
Kingdom: Animalia (Animals)
Order: Phacopina
Phylum: ArthropodaCollection
Museum Collection of FossilsAcquisition
Accession
2011.57Source or Donor
Museum Collection of FossilsAcquisition Method
Long-term LoanDimensions
Width
8 inDepth
2 inLength
8-7/8 inLocation
Location
Container
LeftDrawer
2nd ShelfShelf
Center, CenterWall
NorthRoom
Delmar Smith HallBuilding
Crater Rock MuseumCategory
PermanentMoved By
Steve MillerDate
August 4, 2011Location
Container
RightDrawer
Back Row / BottomShelf
LeftCabinet
Case # 51Wall
NorthRoom
Delmar Smith HallBuilding
Crater Rock MuseumCategory
Permanent
