Rare Complete Ordovician Fossil Trilobite Cyclopyge sp. Neg & Positive plates

  

An ultimate collector top-quality fossil Cyclopyge sp. Completely natural'as found condition' Two pieces, a positive and negative plate, supplied with our certificate of authenticity and fine quality clear lucite display stand. An authentic fossil of an arthropod, a trilobite excavated from the Palaeozoic limestone. The Ordovician period in the Palaeozoic era was approximately 486 to 444 million years ago.

Discovered in the Lower Ktaoua Formation, Morocco, North Africa. The fine grained grey shale is particularly attractive in this specimen. With the aid of a magnifying lens both elongate eyes are visible in the [negative part] of the cephalon, with multitude of lens facets discernible. In the positive side one eye is fantastically preserved in three dimensional form, however slightly squashed, best viewed with a jewellers loop or high power lens.

Every fossil is remarkable, of course, however here, the quality of preservation is of a collection piece; The trilobite plate cleaved from a split layer; this fortuitous happenstance exhibits the remarkable preservation. The essential features are intact on the excavation. The constituent parts of the carapace are well defined, the librigenes (cheeks) intact, thoracic segments (main body armoured segments) complete with spine terminations. The excellent pygidium (tail section) is also present. Further, the deep furrowed central or thoracic lobe exhibits exceedingly well over the whole exoskeleton. The attractive colour is from the fossil bed; heavy minerals cause the burnt umber colouration, a byproduct of heavy concentrations of iron in the region and typical of this formation. This mineralisation develops as a dusty coating of fine limestone. They are giving the fossil a most recognisable signature.

This specimen fossil plate dates to approximately four hundred and eighty million years ago. The trilobite beds are located in the Eastern Anti Atlas mountain ranges running into the Sahara desert of North Africa.

The trilobites were probably covered very quickly in some underwater cataclysm which speedily created an anoxic environment-trapping them and enabling the fossilisation of the trilobites over millions of years. The fossilisation process is best achieved in an anoxic environment when sufficiently buried without oxygen, and bacteria cannot quickly establish on the once-living organisms. This event enables the successful and infrequent event of fossilisation. The beautiful palette of colours caused by mineral absorption into the invertebrates carapaces (exoskeleton) and surrounding matrix (fossil bedrock) created natural earth colours mainly due to iron oxides present in the sediments. The sublime and physical placement of the extinct ocean-dwelling arthropods is aesthetically pleasing, with thoracic furrows and appendages creating dramatic shadowy visions of forgotten worlds. Genus: Pricyclopyge binodosa trilobite [salter 1859]. Age: Palaeozoic era, Ordovician period, Lower Ktaoua Formation, approximately 450 million years ago.

Origin: El Kaid Rrami, Jbel Tijarfaiouine, S. Arfoud, Tifrit n' Ougnaou, Eastern Anti Atlas, Morocco, N.

Overall measurements of the plate. Cyclopyge is a genus of small to average size trilobites that lived during the Ordovician.

Like all members of the family Cyclopigidae, it has very large convex eyes, that cover most of the free cheeks, and in some species touch each other. The eyes almost touch the large glabella.

The occipital ring has merged with the rest of the glabella. The glabella does not extend into a frontal thorn. The cephalon lacks genal spines.

The 6 thorax segments have short pleurae. The pygidium is rather large, and often rather effaced. These are features that also occur in other Cyclopygidae, and are indications of a pelagic lifestyle. Not, in this case, this is the original and guaranteed complete arthropod fossil.

The most well-conserved trilobite plate from the Cambrian era, in a miraculous state of preservation. Mother nature has played the most significant part in this unique conservation of the alien-looking bug. As many collectors aptly coin them. The bug, an understandable colloquialism. This referring to the thoracic segments, the globular cephalon (head), the pygidium (tail), and spines do make for a remarkable image, the prehistoric invertebrates seem to have been frozen in time in the limestone; like some woodlouse which could at any moment walk off the limestone plate and once again become animated back into life.

Trilobites are named from the Greek, Latin naming of'tri' and'Lobos', the three lobes of the trilobite's body. The carapace consists of three principal constituent parts or lobes which run the length of the doublure (the exoskeleton) longitudinally. In this beautiful example, the three main lobes are well detailed and readily discernible to the novice as much they are to the connoisseur. The central lobe (the axial lobe) and to each side of this are the right and left pleural lobes.

These lobes run through the cephalon (head shield) and the pygidium, the tail section. The class of trilobites evolved during the Pre-Cambrian period. This period began around five hundred and forty million years ago. The phylum Arthropoda of that time were the most complex form of animal life in the oceans. This era of the trilobites reign lasted over two hundred and seventy million years, finally coming to an end around two hundred and fifty million years ago during the Permian'Great death', a cataclysmic extinction event that saw the demise of almost 90% of life on the planet.

Before this extinction-level event, trilobites were diverse and ranged globally. They were complex animals, having the first compound eyes and segmented bodies, enabling them to escape danger by enrolling, aiding fast movement and evolution of the seabed dwellers, including free-swimming types. Don't hesitate to get in touch with us for a quote before placing your order if you are in any doubt. The rule only applies if posting abroad or outside of the mainland UK and depending on your location.