Partial, Fossil Trilobite and Horn Coral Association - New York

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.

Horn coral, or Rugose coral, first appeared in the geological record 488 million years ago and went extinct during the great Permian extinction 251 million years ago. They get their name from the hornlike structures built by the coral animal. They are very often used as an index fossil to help correlate the geological ages of different formations.