A remarkable Paradoxides acadoparadoxides trilobite plate measuring 4ft overall, this statement plate contains eight remarkably preserved individual Paradoxides specimens. Once part of an ancient Cambrian seabed, discovered in the Sahara Desert of Sidi Abdullah ben el Hadj, Large pieces are referred to as mass mortality plates, whilst scientists and palaeontological alike have analysis that concludes such mass extinctions is most likely due to tsunamis or similar cataclysms, with the trilobites being quickly covered over and asphyxiated - petrified and now after millenias these specimens are secured by the fossilisation process.

The process of fossilisation is best achieved in an anoxic environment when sufficiently buried without oxygen bacteria cannot quickly establish on the once-living organisms and so this enables the successful and very rare event of fossilisation. The beautiful palette of green and soft rust browns, caused by mineral absorption into the invertebrates carapaces (exoskeleton) and surrounding matrix (fossil bedrock), has created these natural earth colours which are mainly due to iron oxides being present in the sediments.

The sublime and natural placement of the extinct ocean-dwelling arthropods is aesthetically pleasing with furrows and depths creating a dramatic shadowy forgotten world - this cataclysmic extinction event is estimated to have seen the demise of 90% of life on the planet. Paradoxides were complex trilobites, having the first compound eyes and segmented bodies, enabling them to escape danger by enrolling and aiding fast dynamic movement through the ancient waters.

Genus: Paradoxides acadoparadoxides briareus (Geyer, 1993)
Age: Palaeozoic era, Mid Cambrian, 540,000,000 - 500,000,000 years ago.
Origin: Jbel Wawrmast Formation, of Zagora region, the Draa Valley, near Alnifi, Sidi Abdullah ben el Hadj village, Morocco, North Africa.

Paradoxides measurements.
Height: 122.5 cm / 4 ft / 1,225 m
Width: 101 cm / 3.3 ft / 1,010 m
Depth: 5 - 7 cm

Weight: 79.776 Kg