Trilobite Facts
Trilobite Facts
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| Interesting Trilobite Facts: |
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| Trilobites emerged during the Cambrian period, as one of the most diverse and common animals on earth at the time, roughly 521 million years ago. |
| They began to decline about 500 million years ago but did not die out until the big extinction event 240 million years ago. |
| Trilobites have been described as a skeleton flat fish, with an appearance similar to that of a horseshoe crab. When trying to protect themselves they would ball up underwater and flex their rear under their head. |
| Trilobites would outgrow their shells and molt (discard their husk). There are many specimens of their husks but actual creature specimens are extremely rare. |
| Trilobites fed in a variety of ways. Some hunted and consumed worms, while others had a filter-feeding ability, and some ate algae or plankton. |
| Trilobites have been named the official fossil of Ohio (Isotelus), Pennsylvania (Phacops rana), and Wisconsin (Calymene celebra). |
| Native Americans often used the trilobite fossils as amulets, believing they were protective charms possessing special powers. They referred to them as 'Timpe-Konitza-Pachuee' by the Pahvant Ute people. This name means 'little water bug living in a house of stone'. |
| Samuel Turvey, a paleontologist, found several new trilobite species in China. He named one genus 'Han' which is also the biggest ethnic group in the country. He named one of the Han trilobites 'Han solo' in reference to Star Wars. |
| There are more than 20,000 known species of trilobites known to have existed. Only roughly 21 species of trilobites have been found with soft body parts preserved. Most specimens only include the exoskeleton. |
| Because trilobites are always found in rocks with other salt water animals it is believed they were exclusively a marine arthropod. They have been found in very shallow and very deep water. |
| Trilobites were made extinct approximately 250 million years ago when 90 percent of all of the species on earth were wiped out. This event is referred to as the 'Great Dying', or 'Permian Extinction'. It is not known whether it was an exploding supernova or volcanic eruption that caused the event. |
| Although trilobites were the most famous creature at the time of the great extinction event to be wiped out entirely, a variety of insects, armored fish, sharks, various organisms, and many mammals were also killed off. |
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