Double Harpes (Scotoharpes) Trilobite Specimen - Boudib, Morocco

Here is a pair of 2" long Harpes (Scotoharpes) trilobites from Boudib, Morocco on the NE side of Jebel Issoumour. It has a very dramatic "head shield" which is often interpreted as a mechanism to help it stay on top of a soft ocean floor. This preglabellar ring (head shield) is covered in many sensory pits which may have held hairlike features when the trilobite was alive.

The edges of the preglabellar ring has been prepared free of the surrounding limestone.

About Trilobites

Trilobites are an extinct class of marine arthropods that thrived for nearly 270 million years, from the early Cambrian to the end of the Permian period (around 521 to 252 million years ago). They are one of the most successful and diverse groups in the history of life, with over 25,000 described species spanning a wide range of sizes, shapes, and ecological niches. Known for their distinctive, segmented exoskeletons, trilobites provide invaluable insights into the evolutionary history of arthropods and the dynamics of ancient marine ecosystems.

More About Trilobites