Asaphus
delphinus
Trilobites
Order Asaphida, Family Asaphidae
Geological
Time: Middle Ordovician Asery Horizon
Size: 75
mm
Fossil Site:
Wolchow River Region, St Petersburg, Russia
Description:
A well-inflated example of an uncommon Asaphid, this is Asaphus
delphinus, a trilobite with an unusual fusulinid shape (having
pointed anterior and posterior segments). The "Pushme-Pullyou"
shape of this trilobite is thought to have been an aid in feeding.
They are thought to have scavenged the larger Endoceratid cephalopods,
and such a shape would have facilitated access to the interior
of the orthocone shell. It has a lifelike pose, as if crawling
across its nearly half billion-year-old seafloor matrix. It is
accompanied
by a central segment of a tiny (5mm) Echinoderm, betrayed by the
five-sided shape seen in the last photo.
Also
see: Russian Trilobites Asaphid
Trilobites Russian Ordovician Asaphus Trilobites Evolutionary
Sequence
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