Spectacularly Spiny Drotops armatus Trilobite

Description: This plate displays a rarely seen example of a trilobite related to the more common “Phacops” Drotops megalomanicus (see my other offerings) found in the Devonian deposits of Mount Issoumour near Alnif, Morocco. This one is different in large measure due to the fact that there is a profusion of spines projecting from all surfaces, even the eyes! There are four varieties known, distinguished by the type and placement of the spines. This one is forma hoplites with some spines of more than 10 mm in length. Armatus means armed; to what purpose could all these spines be put? Fish had just recently evolved true jaws, and the armament here was a response to predation pressures. This one would have been a mouthful for any would be predator attacking from any quarter. one is in the enrolled defensive posture that would have made it a spiny mouthful from any angle, warning potential predators to see a meal elsewhere. There are MORE THAN NINETY spines preserved here, making this a wonderful example of an evolutionary salvo in the predator/prey arms race.

Also see this Drotops armatus forma armata trilobite.

Reference: Senckenbergiana Lethaea, 75 (1/2), 1995, pp 77-129