4.1" Rare Megistaspidella Trilobite - Russia (Special Price)

Rare Megistaspidella Trilobite - Russia (Special Price) #74015

This is a rare, 4.1" long Megistaspidella triangularis trilobite from the Middle Ordovician deposits near St. Petersburg, Russia. It's nicely prepared and it's caramel colored shell contrasts nicely with the light colored limestone.

Like nearly all of the trilobites from these quarries there is some restoration as the shell tends to flake when the rock is split. There is a lot of areas where the shell has been glued back down with small gaps filled in but the only sizable area of shell restoration is on the right side of the tail. I would say shell restoration in total is around 5%

Photo of the Putilovo quarry, near St. Petersburg Russia where this trilobite was found.

Trilobites were a very diverse group of extinct marine arthropods. They first appeared in the fossil record in the Early Cambrian (521 million years ago) and went extinct during the Permian mass extinction (250 million years ago). They were one of the most successful of the early animals on our planet: over 25,000 species have been described, filling nearly every evolutionary niche. Due in large part to their hard exoskeletons (shells), they left an excellent fossil record.

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