A remarkable and stunning Paradoxides acadoparadoxides trilobite plate by THE FOSSIL STORE™ measuring 1.2 meters in height. This is a very large plate discovery displaying a wonderful array of eight remarkable and very well-preserved individual Paradoxides trilobites. Each specimen is of high quality with anatomical aesthetics due to a successful preservation state of up to 540,000,000 years.

The limestone plate was once part of the ancient Cambrian seabed, discovered in the Sahara Desert of Sidi Abdullah ben el Hadj. Large fossil plates often referred to as mass mortality plates, palaeontologists studies have concluded probably the cause of mass extinction, is most likely due to tsunamis or similar cataclysm.

The process of fossilisation is achieved chiefly in an anoxic environment. When sufficiently buried without oxygen, bacteria cannot quickly establish onto any once-living organisms, enabling the successful and infrequent event of fossilisation.

An attractive palette of time is exhibited, consisting of the trilobites carapaces (exoskeleton), of soft brown tones over a calming green limestone, resulting from the absorption of minerals in the initial matrix (fossil bedrock). It caused the natural earth colours, mainly due to iron oxides being present in the surrounding 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 and one of the first species to develop compound eyes and segmented bodies which helped trilobites avoid many attacks by enrolling whilst also providing trilobites with the ability to respond and move quickly with a dynamic movement in our ancient waters.

The details

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 Alnif, Sidi Abdullah ben el Hadj village, Morocco, North Africa.

Plate: H: 122.5 cm / W: 101 cm / D: 7 cm / KG: 79.776