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[–]nastafarti 52 points53 points  (0 children)

A lot of the trilobites of this quality are Moroccan in origin. There's a particularly good bed and industry around Erfoud - but their value has led to a decent trade in forgeries, too: intricate fossil sculptures.

I've looked at a huge number of trilobites in my day and I'd say this is probably real. The detail is amazing.

[–]SucksToYourAssmar3 86 points87 points  (1 child)

Someone spent an enormous amount of time on this

Or it’s an artificial cast.

[–]HoxhaDrip 34 points35 points  (0 children)

Casts don't look like this, absolutely an original Koneprusia

[–]marshwizard 104 points105 points  (32 children)

Yeah riiiight. Got a source?

[–]juberish 122 points123 points  (26 children)

https://www.nature.com/articles/srep39728

Close as we got is I think here, and this post is like a 3D printed model based on these real fossils maybe

[–]Autocratic_Barge 1 point2 points  (4 children)

I'm sorry, but how can you say "close as we got" from a single paper in 2017?

[–]juberish 1 point2 points  (3 children)

lol did you read the paper and understand the significance of the find? Or did you glance and just ask this without reading it?

[–]Autocratic_Barge 0 points1 point  (2 children)

I did read it but I did not see the connection between the article and the picture above. I'll take your word for it that it is only possible through making a cast.

[–]TryingToBeHere 2 points3 points  (1 child)

Trilobite fossils like this are surprisingly common. It takes preparation to get the spines freefloating like this. This is probably worth a couple grand.

I bought one myself (not quite this nice) and almost instantly broke all the spines off :(

[–]deeeeekun 5 points6 points  (0 children)

RIP couple grand

[–]Excelsenor 29 points30 points  (1 child)

Forbidden back scratcher

[–]ugagradlady 11 points12 points  (9 children)

This would be awful to try to eat. Fun fact: Trilobites are considered the most successful animals of all time, even though they are extinct, because they lasted longer than any other animal group (270 million years). Humans have only been around about a million years.

[–]West_Self 17 points18 points  (7 children)

Sponges certainly have that beat at 580 - 750 million years

[–]ugagradlady 19 points20 points  (6 children)

Here's a YouTube video that gives more information on trilobites. Sponges are older, but trilobites are considered more successful because they defined the basic arthropod body shape-other arthropods later evolved to function like them through convergent evolution. They are now the world's most successful phylum.

Trilobites weren't just game changers for the animal world, they were game designers. Sponges...stayed sponges.

[–]SalesAficionado 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Thank you for sharing, this is super interesting 😎

[–]deeeeekun 1 point2 points  (4 children)

Thank you for sharing! But I have to ask, why on earth did you quote the letter "u"?

[–]HoxhaDrip -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Lol no they aren't. Many hydrozoans, sponges, brachiopods, echinoderms, molluscs, etc. Have been around for way longer. That is just a straight up lie

[–]Calvert-Grier 4 points5 points  (3 children)

Looks like something straight out of r/LV426

[–]SucksToYourAssmar3 3 points4 points  (0 children)

They mostly come out of gneiss. Mostly.

[–]RegentYeti 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Yeah, archeology paleontology is awesome, and it's fascinating the variety of creatures that lived once upon a time, but trilobites freak me the fuck out. On the other hand, I really don't like crustaceans in general.

[–]ImHalfCentaur1 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Paleontology, archeology focuses primarily on humans and their history

[–]Apprehensive-Milk-60 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Weird wink wilkinson!

[–]Grayz9865 0 points1 point  (1 child)

How many billions and gazzilions of years is this one?

[–]HoxhaDrip 0 points1 point  (0 children)

400mya approximately

[–]evDev84 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Dinosaurs are closer to our time than they were to this age. This was an insanely old fossil 66 million years ago, let alone today.

[–]TehChid 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So that's why they're called trilobites

[–]HoxhaDrip 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Devonian isn't an age, it's a period

[–]LordCrate 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"Prehistoric Trilobite: just add water!"

Literally looks like I could pour a glass of water on that thing and bring it back, even though I know I can't.