2.2" Tower Eyed Erbenochile Trilobite - Foum Zguid, Morocco

This a 2.2" long (if outstretched) tower-eyed Erbenochile erbeni trilobite from Foum Zguid, Morocco. Excellent preparation with dozens of free-standing spines and clear eye facets. The preparation on this example is exceptional and there is only about 1% shell restoration along a repaired crack.

This species has extraordinarily large eyes containing over 400 eye facets. The massive eyes allow full 360 degree coverage in the horizontal plane and were high enough to allow the trilobite to see backwards over its thorax.

There are two known species of Erbenochile, and Erbenochile issoumourensis is distinguished from Erbenochile erbeni by several key features. Issoumourensis has a smaller number of eye facets, it does not have an "eye shade" extending laterally from the to of its eyes, the spines are shorter, and the cephalon rounded triangular and without tubercles.