7" Megistaspis With Preserved Antennae & Symphysurus

Megistaspis With Preserved Antennae & Symphysurus #284066

This is a large, 7" long Megistaspis trilobite from the Fezouata Formation with both antennae preserved. Soft bodied preservation is quite rare in the fossil record but occasionally seen on trilobites from this locality. The antennae are both natural and you can see the segmentation on them under magnification. Overlaying the left hand side of its thorax is a Symphysurus trilobite. There is some restoration to the left hand side of the tail as well as on the left cheek of the trilobite. I would say it's about 10% restoration in total.

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: over 25,000 species have been described, filling nearly every evolutionary niche. Due in large part to their hard exoskeletons (shells), they left an excellent fossil record.

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