Trilobite - Dalmanites myops

myminifactory

Human: This Silurian trilobite Dalmanites head shield showcases the remarkable eyes of these ancient creatures, featuring multiple lenses that fossilize well and are clearly visible in this model. Trilobites were a group of extinct marine arachnomorph arthropods belonging to the class Trilobita, marking one of the earliest-known groups of arthropods on Earth. The first appearance of trilobites in the fossil record dates back 521 million years ago during the Atdabanian stage of the Early Cambrian period, and they thrived throughout the lower Paleozoic era before experiencing a gradual decline to extinction when all trilobite orders except the Proetids died out during the Devonian. Trilobites vanished in the mass extinction at the end of the Permian about 252 million years ago, having dominated the oceans for over 270 million years. By the time trilobites first appeared in the fossil record, they were already highly diversified and geographically dispersed across the globe. The study of these fossils has made significant contributions to biostratigraphy, palaeontology, evolutionary biology, and plate tectonics due to their wide diversity and easily fossilized exoskeletons. Trilobites are often placed within the arthropod subphylum Schizoramia within the superclass Arachnomorpha, although several alternative taxonomies exist in the literature. These ancient creatures exhibited various lifestyles; some moved over the sea bed as predators, scavengers, or filter feeders, while others swam, feeding on plankton. Most lifestyles expected of modern marine arthropods are seen in trilobites, with the possible exception of parasitism. Some trilobites, particularly those belonging to the family Olenidae, even developed a symbiotic relationship with sulfur-eating bacteria from which they derived their food supply. This remarkable object was captured using a Canon 5DS R camera and Stackshot 3x with turntable to provide 114 images, which were then processed using Agisoft Photoscan at high levels.