Asaphus
latus
Trilobites
Order Asaphida, Family Asaphidae
Geological
Time: Middle Ordovician, Asery Horizon
Size: 88
mm
Fossil Site:
Wolchow River Region, St Petersburg, Russia
Description:
A is a less common trilobite Asaphid, Asaphus
latus, a name derived from its broader thorax. The
region in which these trilobites lived was subject to dramatic
changes in salinity and turbidity,
and the trilobites were able to make rapid (geologically speaking)
evolutionary adjustments. These adjustments were thought to
be able
to allow them to see both predator and prey more easily. Coming
from an inland sea during the lower to middle Ordovician, the Russian
trilobites from near Saint Petersburg, Russia participated in the Great
Ordovician Radiation, which saw marine animal diversity increase
three-fold more than the Cambrian Explosion. The Russian
asaphid trilobites are a particularly interesting example of
descent with modification.
Also
see: Russian Trilobites Asaphid
Trilobites Russian
Ordovician Asaphus Trilobites Evolutionary Sequence
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