Trilobite Evolution

Trilobites, the Exemplars of Evolution, and arthropod friends

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Lichas Trilobites Death Assemblage

A rarely seen species

Name: Lichas marocanus Trilobites Order Lichida, Family Lichidae Geological Time : Upper Ordovician, Ashgillian Age (~440 million years ago) Size: Trilobite is 72 mm long Fossil Site: Kataoua Formation, Jebel Bou-Degane, Tazarine, Morocco

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Nephrolenellus geniculatus Olenellid Trilobite from Pioche Shale

This is a beautiful late lower Cambrian trilobite from the family Olenellidae, members of which were almost entirely limited to a particular zonal layer in what was the former continent of Laurentia.  Laurentia today is the North American Craton that is depicted in orange-brown in the lower picture. Laurentia before becoming independent for the last 600 million years, is theorized to have been parts of ancient supercontinents Pannotia and Rodinia, as well as others in Earth’s deep time. The ollenellids are treasured by collectors for their elegant if primitive appearance.

Name: Nephrolenellus geniculatus Trilobite Order Redlichiida, Suborder Olenellina, Superfamily Olenelloidea, Family Olenellidae Fossil Site: Pioche Shale Formation, C- Shale, Combined Metals Member, Lincoln County, Nevada Geologic Time: Lower Cambrian Size: 16 mm long

Image from: Trilobites Family Album

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Source

Marjumia callas Trilobite from Utah

Trilobites Order Ptychopariida, Suborder Ptychopariina, Superfamily Ptychoparioidea, Family Marjumiidae Geologic Age: Upper Middle Cambrian Trilobite is 32 mm long Marjum Formation, House Range, Millard County Remarks: Note how sharp and distinct are the pleural spines.

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“Denial is not just a river in Egypt”.

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Extremely Rare Witaaspis Silurian Jawless Fish

Name: Witaaspis sp Class Osteostraci, Cephalaspidiformes, Family Cerphalaspidae Geological Time: Upper Silurian, Middle Ludlovian Stage Size: 10 mm by 15 mm on a 55 mm by 27 mm matrix Fossil Site: Island of Oesel, Estonia

Fossil Mall is currently running a sale, with 15% off the entire site, including rare and museum grade fossils.

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Evolution Is Finally Winning Out Over Creationism, Especially Among the Young

Few issues have divided the American public as bitterly as Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection. Since On the Origin of Species was pu

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Source

Modocia weeksensis and Cedaria minor Trilobite Assemblage

Modocia weeksensis Trilobites Order Ptychopariida, Suborder Ptychopariina, Superfamily Ptychoparioidea, Family Marjumiidae Cedaria minor Trilobites Order Ptychopariida, Suborder Ptychopariina, Superfamily Ptychoparioidea, Family Cedariidae Geologic Age: Upper Middle Cambrian Modocia trilobite on top is 11 mm long Weeks Formation, House Range, Millard County

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Parenting 101. 

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The next best thing to drinking a beer with great minds is drinking one from these new limited edition Heroes of Science glasses by Cognitive Surplus featuring some of history’s greatest scientific minds. You can find them in their online store and on Etsy.

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……….they will be mine.

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Elegant Psychopyge elegans Trilobite

Psychopyge elegans Trilobites Order Phacopida, Superfamily Acastoidea, Family Acastidae Geological Time: Uppermost Emsian Stage Early/Middle Devonian Transition Size (25.4 mm = 1 inch): 87 mm long Fossil Site: Djebel Issoumour, Morocco

ALL spines have been prepared freestanding on the cephalon as well as those on the axial, and pleural lobes, as well as the pygidial spines making for a dramatic display with OVER EIGHTY freestanding spines.

Also see: Rare Psychopyge praestans Trilobite

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Fossil Image CC BY-NC 4.0

Autumn Colored Fossil Leaf

Who has not seen stunning displays of fall leaves, unless you live at too small or large of a latitude? By late summer, trees have sensed the shortened days, and begin turning off some genes and turning off others, which in turn beginning shutting down photosynthetic energy production. Turning water and carbon dioxide into energy by photosynthesis requires a lot of the green pigment chlorophyll. Essentially, the tree turns off the chlorophyll that is so abundant that most leaves are green during the growing season. As the chlorophyll is used up and not replaced, remaining color pigments always present come to dominate. One of those is beta-Carotene (lower left molecule), the strong orange pigment that makes carrots and pumpkins orange, and your skin orange too if you eat enough carrots and pumpkins.  Hence, the orange in autumn leaves.

Fossil leaves are normally brown, though they can be quite detailed showing venation. The fossil leaf above is uncommonly colored, displaying autumn-like colors, but for entirely different reasons than live plants. During fossilization, organic material is replaced with minerals, and the fossil then displays the corresponding mineral colors. The red coloration above is likely due to the presence of iron.

The fossil above is a 2 inch long, 50 million year old Eocene elm leaf from the Tranquil Shale in British Columbia, Canada.

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Image source

Kewl Pseudoscorpion Dominican Amber

Arachnida,Pseudoscorpionidae

Geological Time: Oligocene-Miocene

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Arctinurus boltoni - Emperor of North American Trilobites

Trilobites Order Lichida, Family Lichidae Geological Time: Silurian Trilobite is 122 mm long Fossil Site: Rochester Shale Formation, Middleport, New York

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Maotianshania cylindrica Worm Fossil from Chengjiang Biota

Name: Maotianshania cylindrica Phylum Nematomorpha, Class Palaeoscolecida, Family Maotianshaniidae Geological Time: Early Cambrian (~ 525 million years ago) Size: 43 mm Fossil Site: Chengjiang Maotianshan Shales, Yunnan Province, China