5.1" Gigantopygus Trilobite With Pos/Neg - Issafen, Morocco

Gigantopygus Trilobite With Pos/Neg - Issafen, Morocco #171026

This is a 5.1" long example of Gigantopygus papillatus (Hupe’ 1953) from the Issafen Formation of Morocco. It was a rare, perfect split and both the positive and negative impression of the fossil is included. There has been some color enhancement to the trilobite so that it stands out better from the rock but otherwise I don't see any evidence of restoration.

In the past few years, deposits near Issafen, Morocco have begun yielding a new assemblage of Early Cambrian trilobites. This fauna is very diverse and consists mainly of ellipsocephalids, chengkouiids, gigantopygids, holmiids, neltneriids, saukiandids, and the latest fallotaspids. The shale is a greenish to slightly yellow color when freshly split, but weathers to a light grey.

Trilobites were a very diverse group of extinct marine arthropods. They first appeared in the fossil record in the Early Cambrian (521 million years ago) and went extinct during the Permian mass extinction (250 million years ago). They were one of the most successful of the early animals on our planet: over 25,000 species have been described, filling nearly every evolutionary niche. Due in large part to their hard exoskeletons (shells), they left an excellent fossil record.

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