ns in all.
“It seems like a big number,” you o remember t millions uponmillions of trilobites lived for millions upon millions of years in ancient seas, so tyt a of tial specimens. Finding acomplete trilobite fossil is still a big moment for a paleontologist.”
trilobites first appeared—fully formed, seemingly from noart of t outburst of complex life popularly kno deal else, in t and still mysteriousPermian extinction 300,000 or so centuries later. As inct creatures, tural temptation to regard t in fact t successfulanimals ever to live. tory’s great survivors. ey points out, as long.
itime at trilobites proliferated prodigiously. Most remainedsmall, about tles, but some greo be as big as platters. Altoget least five ty turn upall time. Fortey ly been at a conference in Souty in Argentina. “S eresting trilobites t deal else. Sies to studyto look for more. s of till unexplored.”
“In terms of trilobites?”
“No, in terms of everything.”
t teentury, trilobites t reason ed and studied. teryabout tey says, it can be startling to go tot formation of rocks and to all, and taspis or Elenellus as big as a crab o your ing ures ems, probingantennae, “a brain of sorts,” in Fortey’s rangest eyes ever seen. Made ofcalcite rods, tuff t forms limestone, tituted t visual systemskno trilobites didn’t consist of just one venturesome speciesbut dozens, and didn’t appear in one or tions but all over. Many teentury saation of Darionary ideals. If evolution proceeded slo fortures? t is, .
And so matters seemed destined to remain forever until one day in 1909, tietion of Darologist named Ctle alcott made an extraordinary find in the CanadianRockies.
alcott ica, Ne means,ill t . As a boy alcott discovered t icularlytrilobites, and built up a collection of sufficient distinction t it $70,000 in today’s money.
Altion and augtbecame a leading auty on trilobites and person to establis trilobites includes modern insects and crust