Breviphillipsia sampsoni Mississippian Trilobite from Missouri

By the Carboniferous trilobites, the lone surviving trilobite Order was Proetida, and in a general sense all Carboniferous trilobites are relatively rare. Among these "last of the trilobites" is Breviphillipsia sampsoni (Superfamily: Proetoidea; Family: Phillipsiidae) from the Mississippian Chouteau Formation in Saline County, Missouri. A defining characteristic of sampsoni is the granulous exoskeleton extending from cephalon to pygidium, as is evident in the close-up pictures.