Trilobite

Fossil sea arthropods with three-lobed bodies that lived for nearly 300 million years.

Trilobite specimen — Photo: James St. John, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

How to identify trilobite

Oval body split lengthwise into three lobes.
Distinct head, segmented middle and tail shield.
Often curled up or found as molted pieces.

Often confused with

Brachiopod
Brachiopods are two-part shells with no segments.
Compare side by side

Where it's found

Wheeler Shale, Utah
Anti-Atlas, Morocco
Ohio
New York

Uses

Collecting and studying early animal life.

Rock tumbling

Not suitable for tumbling.

Did you know?

Trilobite eyes had lenses made of the mineral calcite.

Think you could spot it from a blurry close-up?

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