Trilobite fossils are found worldwide, with thousands of known species. Because they appeared quickly in geological time, and moulted like other arthropods, trilobites serve as excellent index fossils, enabling geologists to date the age of the rocks in which they are found.
Are trilobite fossils widespread?
They were already abundant in the mid-Cambrian (524 million years ago), reached their peak of diversity at the end of the Cambrian, and finally disappeared from the fossil record during the great Permian extinction (250 mya). Trilobite fossils are found worldwide, with many thousands of known species.
Where are most trilobite fossils found?
Their fossilized remains are found in the rugged mountains of western Canada, the rolling plains of eastern Europe, the scorching deserts of northern Africa and the verdant hills of southern China. Indeed, trilobites can be discovered on every continent on earth where Paleozoic outcroppings exist.
Where did trilobites live in the world?
ocean waters All trilobites lived in ocean waters. Most lived on or burrowed into the sand and mud on the sea floor, but some swam above the bottom.
What is so special about trilobites?
Trilobites were the first group of animals in the animal kingdom to develop complex eyes. Cambrian Period (about 500 million years ago). Trilobites lived in marine waters. Some trilobites could swim, others burrowed or crawled around on muddy sea floors.
When did trilobites rule the world?
These ancient arthropods filled the world's oceans from the earliest stages of the Cambrian Period, 521 million years ago, until their eventual demise at the end of the Permian, 252 million years ago, a time when nearly 90 percent of life on earth was rather suddenly eradicated.
Did trilobites rule the world?
WASHINGTON — Trilobites may be the archetypal fossils, symbols of an archaic world long swept beneath the ruthless road grader of time. But we should all look so jaunty after half a billion years. At the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, Brian T.
How did trilobites adapt to their environment?
Trilobites were able to adapt to their environment extremely well. This species had a flat head and long eye stalks, which means it likely lived in the sediment on the ocean floor. Fossils like this give scientists useful clues to what life on Earth was like millions of years ago.
What kind of fossil is a trilobite?
fossil arthropods trilobite, any member of a group of extinct fossil arthropods easily recognized by their distinctive three-lobed, three-segmented form. Trilobites, exclusively marine animals, first appeared at the beginning of the Cambrian Period, about 542 million years ago, when they dominated the seas.
What is the role of trilobites in our understanding of evolution?
Trilobites have been important in estimating the rate of speciation during the period known as the Cambrian explosion because they are the most diverse group of metazoans known from the fossil record of the early Cambrian.