Object of the Month: Trilobite

These extinct arthropods lived 600 million years ago. That is even before the dinosaurs or fish inhabited the Earth! Trilobites are from the same phylum as modern day crabs, spiders and insects. These marine animal fossils have been found in all the world’s oceans. Their exoskeleton (what you see in the picture) fossilizes easily and we have discovered more species of Trilobites than we have for any other extinct animal.

Interesting fact: Trilobites were the earliest known animal to possess vision!