DRAMATIC Kierarges morrisoni Trilobite

Kierarges morrisoni

Trilobites Order Asaphida, Family Asaphidea, Subfamily Isotelinae

Geological Time: Lower Ordovician

Size (25.4 mm = 1 inch): Trilobite is 69 mm long by 36 mm wide on a 90 mm by 60 mm matrix

Fossil Site: Upper Fezouata Formation, Zagora, Morocco

Fossil Code: 13057

Price: Sold


Asaphid TrilobiteDescription: This is the first example of this most unusual Asaphid I have come across. While the cephalon is pretty typical of such taxa as Asahellus, when you look at the large spade-like pygidium you come to realize it is most unusual indeed. The size of the pygidium relative to the cephalon means this one would be termed macropygous. To what purpose might such a pygidium be put? Perhaps it lived burrowed into the sediment, and it used its pygidium like a shovel to excavate its burrow. The brick-red color is natural, and contrasts well with the matrix, making for a dramatic display. Material from the Fezouata Formation often displays this reddish color is a result of oxidation of pyrite post-deposition. It is also found in many Chengjiang fossils for the same reason. The shine is dues to preservation of some of the body as schist. It had once been undescribed, then assigned to the genus Nerudaspis which is found in the Czech Republic, but in 2014 it was assigned the type species of a new genus Kierarges with the full name Kierages morrisoni. The species is also found in Portugal.

Corbacho, J. (2014) Kierarges morrisoni: Un nuevo género de Isotelinae (Trilobita) del Floiense de Portugal y Marruecos. Batalleria, 20:21-26

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