Is This a Trilobite?

[Joe G from Md]

Found this over at the creek, is it a Trilobite. Added Nickel for size, he ain't very big.

 

[jeff of pa]

looks like one




http://www.u-digfossils.com/trilobites.html

 

[galenrog]

Yep.

Time for more coffee.

 

[smokeythecat]

Yes it is.

 

[A2coins]

That is really cool

 

[ohiowhiteguy]

without a doubt..trilobites are my favorite fossils to find..
very nice.
OWG...

 

[Doubter in MD]

Since we're both from Maryland, if you don't mind me asking, which creek?

 

[orange_sweetheart]

Very cool find --

 

[Joe G from Md]

Since we're both from Maryland, if you don't mind me asking, which creek?

Sorry Bud, I am from Md. but live in Ky. found it in Cane Creek.

 

[Mackaydon]

Sure tis; used to find them in the creeks near my school.
Here's an example of how large they can get.
Karl E. Limper Geology Museum - Miami University
Don.......

 

[Bruce R]

Do you know they still exist ?

 

[Joe G from Md]

Do you know they still exist ?

I was unaware of that could you please explain?

 

[Geochem]

Yes. Most certainly.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Do you know they still exist ?

Isopods and "pill bugs" exist but they are very different. As different as dinosaurs and chickens.

Trilobites died off 250 million years ago in the Permian Extinction - or just before.

 

[Mackaydon]

" ......the final decline of trilobites happened shortly before the end of the Permian mass extinction event. With so many marine species involved in the Permian extinction, the end of nearly 300 million successful years for the trilobite would not have been unexpected at the time. Trilobites have no known direct descendants."
Source: Wiki;pedia
Don......

 

[Bruce R]

The horseshoe crab is an indirect descendant of the trilobite, so yes they do still exist, the same way my grandfather 100 generations removed still exists in me.

 

[Mackaydon]

Trilobites have no known direct descendants. Their closest living relatives would be the chelicerates. Though horseshoe crabs are often cited as their closest living relatives, they are no closer evolutionarily than other cheliceratans.'Indirectly', perhaps we're all related to the trilobite.
Don......

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Horseshoe crabs have been around for 450 million years, so they were the concurrent neighbors of the Trilobites for 200 million years. The horseshoe crabs were more closely related to eurypterids (NY State state fossil)