Prehistoric Pompeii discovered: Most pristine trilobite fossils ever found shake up scientific understanding of the long extinct group

American Museum of Natural History on Instagram: "💡Did you know? Trilobites ruled the Earth longer than the dinosaurs! It took three major mass extinctions to end trilobites’ more than 250-million year evolutionary lifespan. Join Melanie Hopkins, curator in the Division of Paleontology, to explore these arthropods through the Museum’s extensive collection of trilobite specimens. With scientists describing new species every year—in addition to the 22,000 already on the books—there’s still so muc

A tiny, glowing Asteromajia trilobite from the Middle Cambrian of China. This specimen is preserved on a thin calcite sheet that separated from thicker shale matrix, revealing a translucent #fossil that glows when backlit. The dark patches represent the hypostome and possibly traces of the gut. This specimen will be available on my shop later today! . . #fossils #bugs #fossilhunter #rockhound paleontologist paleontology geologist canada Toronto deeptime nature biology adventure explore discovery