Large, 3.6" Spiny Quadrops Trilobite - Great Preparation

This is a spectacular specimen of one of my favorite species of trilobites, the very alien looking Quadrops flexuosa. This bizarre trilobite has a distinctive four-forked protrusion coming off of the front of it's head which is where the genus gets it's name. It is not only a rare trilobite but extremely hard and time consuming to prepare owing to the hardness of the rock and the it's many free standing spines.

At 3.6" long this is very large for the species in also is well prepared. It would have taken on the order of 50+ hours of preparation work using airscribes and air abrasives under magnification to slowly remove the limestone that has encased this fossil for 380 million years. The spines are all real on this specimen and no restoration other than some minor touchups along repaired cracks.