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December 1, 2020

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Rare ancient ocean fossil discovered

Chinese scientists have found a fossilized trilobite with an unusual cephalic morphology dating back around 500 million years in east China’s Shandong Province.

The 4-centimeter-long trilobite, Phantaspis auritus, has a head with an extended anterior area with a double-lobate shape resembling a pair of rabbit ears, according to the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Trilobites are a fossil group of extinct marine arthropods with a heavily calcified external skeleton that populated the oceans from about 520 million years ago to about 250 million years ago.

The discovery of this unique trilobite provides new insights into the morphological range and structural foundation of the cephalic specialization in Cambrian trilobites.




 

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