Lot 768
Two Museum Quality Spiny Trilobites. There are many different varieties of spiny trilobites found in Jjebel, Issoumour Morocco more than 375 million years ago. There must have been an arms race going on with the trilobites developing sharp spines to protect themselves from being swallowed whole by carnivorous worms and other predatory sea creatures that did not have teeth. Toothed fish did not exist at this time, only jawless fish. These trilobites are very spectacular and require many hours of tedious work to reveal the delicate spines. This gives them an amazing life like appearance compared to the usual quality where the spines are flattened or missing entirely.
This pair of complete 3-D Cyphaspis are certainly bizarre with two horns jutting from their head, short eye stalks and long sharp genal spines protecting their bodies. Dramatically positioned on a 3½ X 2" grey matrix, the largest specimen is 1.4 inches long and the smaller one 1 inch long. Estimated Value $700 - 900
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| Realized $660 |
