Rare Otarionella Trilobite - Jebel Oudriss, Morocco

This is a rare, .36" long, Otarionella lkomalii trilobite from Jebel Oudriss, Morocco. I've only been able to acquire a few examples of this species over the last few years.

A link to the paper describing this unusual Aulacopleurid can be found below.

The ontogeny and systematics of the otarionine trilobite Otarionella from the Devonian of the Montagne Noire, France and the Maider, Morocco

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.