Exceedingly Rare Lehua Trilobites from Morocco

Lehua ponti

Class Trilobita, Trilobite Order Phacopida, Suborder Cheirurina, Family Cheiruridae (Vela, 2007)

Geological Time: Ordovician

Size:35 mm and 20 mm long

Fossil Site: Tanssikhte, Zagora, Morocco


Lehua pontiDescription: This plate displays a rarely seen example of a trilobite found in the Ordovician deposits of Tanssikhte near Zagora, Morocco. This taxon has dramatically sweeping genal, pleural, and pygidial spines. The spines presumably in addition to a deterrent to predators probably served to keep the trilobite near the surface of the substrate, much as snowshoes do. This is a very fine, 3-D example of the type, unusual for Ordovician trilobites.

Also see: Moroccan Trilobites

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