Koneprusia Moroccan Museum Trilobite

Description: Elegant example of an unusual trilobite which as an Odontopleurid has many fine relatives in Dicranurus, Leonaspis, and Ceratonurus. This one has a plethora of spines, most of which have been painstakingly prepared freestanding, making for a spectacular display piece. To what purpose could such a spiny armament be put? The answer DEFENSE cries out; with fish only recently (geologically speaking) having developed true jaws, any advantage a prey species could evolve would stand it in good stead in the eternal predator/prey arms race. Like many spiny trilobites from Morocco this one has been prepared by removing the spines as they are exposed to allow the preparatory to access the rest of the specimen obscured by the spines to complete the process. I have incuded a sequence of photos showing the specimen with the spines removed to a shot of the craftsman reattaching the spines to the near-finished specimen, a process that requires extensive experience and a steady hand. At first glance this one would be dismissed as an example of the type known as Koneprusia brutoni were it not for the double spines at the anterior, a feature to date only known in Koneprusia dahmani which is best known from Foum Ziguid. This one is the largest I have ever seen, and is so well preserved that even eye facets are visible!

See my other offerings for Koneprusia brutoni, as well as a Koneprusia with paired axial ring spines and an unusual Koneprusia with double axial spine rows.