1.95" Spiny Ceratarges Trilobite - Zireg, Morocco

Now this is one alien looking trilobite, it's almost hard to imagine that it was once alive inhabiting our oceans. It's a Ceratarges aries from the Middle Devonian limestone of Morocco. One can imagine that the large spines may have served as defensive protection against fish that had just begun to develop hardened jaws and likely had trilobites on the dinner menu.

Including the spines this specimen is 1.95" long. The tail on this specimen might be either be a composite or had been moved back into position during preparation. Other than that there is no restoration on the specimen.

There are currently about 5 different species of Certarges described from Morocco each a slight variation on the others. A paper describing some of these species can be found at:

NEW SPECIES OF THE LICHID TRILOBITE CERATARGES FROM THE MIDDLE DEVONIAN IN MOROCCO