Superb Barrande Silurian Trilobite Otarion diffractum

Otarion diffractum is a classic Bohemian trilobite that here about as good as they come, with the only flaw being a slight slippage of the cephalon onto the thorax.

About the Barrande trilobites: In a relatively small area comprising but a few hundred square miles of the central Czech Republic is found a vast and historical assemblage of fossils spanning from the Middle Cambrian through the Devonian. Among these are an amazing 1300 species of trilobite. These trilobites are often called the Barrandian trilobites after Joachim Barrande, who gave these arthropods their name (they had been referred to as flat fish) owing to their transverse triple lobes. Barrande spent much of 19th century supervising the collecting of these trilobites and the production of wonderful pictures of them. Also called Bohemian trilobites, Barrande described some 300 of them. His great work-"Système silurien de centre de la Bohême", stands almost unrivalled in the palæontological literature". The first volume was published in 1852 and at the time of his death twenty-two large quarto volumes with 1160 plates had appeared. Lovers of trilobites greatly appreciate the story and history of the Barrandian trilobites.