Exceedingly Spiny Drotops armatus Trilobite

Drotops armatus forma armata

Trilobites Order Phacopida, Family Phacopidae

Geological Time : Middle Devonian

Size: Trilobite is 145 mm long

Fossil Site: Jebel Issoumour, Alnif, Morocco


Drotops armatus TrilobiteDescription: This plate displays a rarely seen example of a trilobite related to the more common “Phacops” Drotops megalomanicus (see my other offerings) found in the Devonian deposits of Mount Issoumour near Alnif, Morocco. This one is different in large measure due to the fact that there is a profusion of spines projecting from all surfaces, even the eyes! There are four varieties known, distinguished by the type and placement of the spines. This one is forma armata with spines of up to 10 mm in length. Armatus means armed; to what purpose could all these spines be put? Fish had just recently evolved true jaws, and the armament here was a response to predation pressures. This one would have been a mouthful for any would be predator attacking from any quarter. There are MORE THAN NINETY spines preserved here, making this a wonderful example of an evolutionary salvo in the predator/prey arms race. The white streak is a natural calcitic intusion, it can be sen extending into the matrix base.

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