Description
- Trilobite Fossil
- Species: Hollardops sp.
- Age: Middle Devonian, 380 Million Years
- Source: Hamar L’Aghdad Limestones, Djebel Issoumour area, Anti-Atlas Mountains, Morocco
- Size: 60mm
- Image shows exact item received.
Trilobites are one of the most iconic and widely studied fossils in palaeontology. A family of extinct marine arthropods; trilobites appeared in the Cambrian period over 500 million years ago and thrived for more than 270 million years before going extinct at the end of the Permian. Fossils of these isopod-like creatures have been found in many countries all across the world, clearly indicating their presence in the Earths ancient oceans and the evolutionary success of these early arthropods. Trilobites are recognisable by their segmented bodies, articulated exoskeletons, and diverse morphological features.
This Trilobite fossil was found in Morocco. Morocco is world-renowned for its fossil trilobites, particularly those from the Devonian period. The Anti-Atlas Mountains in particular are abundant with trilobite fossils and are known for producing some of the highest quality specimens. A huge array of species have been discovered, remarkably preserved showing all their intricate details: spines, eyes, body segments, etc.
Hollardops were a relative of Phacops that lived during the Devonian. Their fossils have been found in Western Europe and in North Africa. Similar to Phacops they had large compound eyes, however they had the addition of genal spines that extend from the side of the ‘head’ and reach the 6th segment. In total they have 10 segments, and the final has 5 pairs of spines. They are between 3 and 9cm in total length.
