Impressive Coltraneia Trilobite - Tower Eyes

This is a Coltraneia trilobite with amazing "tower eyes" full of hundreds of eye facets. The species has often been referred to as a a Treveropyge in the past. This one is just under 2 1/2 inches long if it was laid out straight and has been expertly prepared. Check out how well the eye detail is preserved in this specimen.

This trilobite is positioned as if it was buried while climbing out from the mud. Interestingly more than half of the Coltraneia I've seen have been in this position. One can only guess that this trilobite assumed this position during life, keeping most of it's body buried while using it's large eyes to survey the sea floor. They were then buried by undersea mudslide rapidly in place.