Extremely rare fossil of Trilobite unearthed near Tennessee lake, Watch Video

While walking around a lake shore in Tennessee, a local young girl has spotted a 475-million-year-old artifact. Reports coming from Tennessee informed that the 11-year-old Ryleigh Taylor, living in the east region of the area, was walking along with the shore of Douglas Lake and found the 475-million-year-old fossil.

Later, the findings were handed over to a nearby university i.e. University of Tennessee, where, paleobiology professor Colin Sumrall tested it thoroughly. After examining the fossil Sumrall reported that it was a belonging to an extinct sea creature known as a trilobite.

“Typically when we look at fossils of trilobites, they molt when they grow,” Sumrall told ABC affiliate WATE.com. “So what happens is, when the trilobite skeleton just crumbles into hundreds of little pieces. To find one where all the pieces are intact, it’s actually a pretty lucky find.”

As per an article published on Fossilera.com, trilobites proliferated and thrived throughout the Paleozoic world, comprising one of the earliest known groups of arthropods. trilobites comprised one of the earliest known groups of arthropods and thrived throughout the Paleozoic era with more than 600 species.

Girl finds 475-million-year-old fossil near Tennessee lake https://t.co/T07A2IDBu9 pic.twitter.com/FEcJ3WyyVm
— KMBC (@kmbc) May 3, 2018

For nearly 300 million years, the sea creatures resembling modern horseshoe crabs scoured the oceans.

Sumrall said he could imagine Ryleigh as a great paleontologist one day.

“I can show kids that are my age that they don’t have to sit inside and play games. They can actually go outside and find different things,” Ryleigh told WATE.

“I’m surprised that it was right on top of that rock, for anyone who could have found it. But I’m very proud of her,” said Tammy Taylor, Ryleigh’s mother.

Ryleigh hopes other children will get out and enjoy nature, so they can see what they can find. Sumrall adds, “To find something like that, it could spark this youngster into a whole career. Maybe she’ll become a great paleontologist one day.”

There’s no telling what the future holds for Ryleigh. For now, she’s happy to continue exploring. Ryleigh doesn’t plan on keeping the fossil. She wants it to be displayed in a public museum so other people can enjoy it.

Trilobites

Trilobites proliferated and thrived throughout the Paleozoic world, comprising one of the earliest known groups of arthropods. They flourished to over 600 species at their zenith, including many with exotic exoskeletons and unique feeding strategies. They are probably most closely related to modern horseshoe crabs.

Though the Cambrian (521 mya) marks the appearance of trilobites in the fossil record, they were already highly diverse. They continued to proliferate until their decline in the Devonian and eventual disappearance in the Permian mass extinction (250 mya).

Few points about trilobites:

Trilobites evolved profound adaptations that place them among the most successful of all early animals. They patrolled, hunted, and scoured the oceans for over 270 million years.
Trilobite means, “Three lobes.” This refers to their body plan.
Trilobites occupied different levels of the food web including predator, scavenger, and prey.
Trilobites molted their exoskeleton much like lobsters of today.
Most trilobites are one of the first animals known to have the sense of vision. They had compound eyes contained lenses made of calcite crystals, something unique to trilobites.
Trilobites had elaborate survival features such as eye stalks, spines, and an ability to enroll itself and shield its vulnerable parts from exposure.
Trilobites hatched from eggs and preceded through different growth stages.
Trilobites vary widely in size and shape. They can be so small enough to view with a microscope. They can also be quite large. Isotelus rex could grow 2 feet long.
Trilobites are typically found by splitting sheets of shale and hard limestone deposits.

Trilobites rank among the most important of early animals. Our knowledge of them has been gained from the study of their fossils, usually impressions left of their shells after burial in sediment which subsequently hardened into rock. They appeared abruptly in the early part of the Cambrian Period, and came to dominate the Cambrian and early Ordovician seas. A prolonged decline then set in before they finally became extinct in the Permian Period, about 250 million years ago.

Trilobites belonged to the phylum Arthropoda—like crustaceans, spiders and insects. They aredivided into three parts from head to tail (head, thorax and tail) and from side-to-side (the central axis and two lateral lobes). The word ‘trilobite’ refers to the side-to-side partition, not the head, thorax and tail.

Trilobites have long attracted popular as well as scientific attention. The Pahvant Ute Indians of Utah wore specimens of the Middle Cambrian trilobite Elrathia kingii around their necks as lucky charms. It is reported that they were used to guard against sickness and being shot.

As per Wiki, Trilobite meaning “three lobes”) are a fossil group of extinct marine arachnomorph arthropods that form the class Trilobita. Trilobites form one of the earliest known groups of arthropods. The first appearance of trilobites in the fossil record defines the base of the Atdabanian stage of the Early Cambrian period (521 million years ago), and they flourished throughout the lower Paleozoicera before beginning a drawn-out decline to extinction when, during the Devonian, all trilobite orders except the Proetids died out. Trilobites disappeared in the mass extinction at the end of the Permian about 252 million years ago. The trilobites were among the most successful of all early animals, roaming 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. Because trilobites had wide diversity and an easily fossilized exoskeleton, they left an extensive fossil record, with some 17,000 known species spanning Paleozoic time. The study of these fossils has facilitated important contributions to biostratigraphy, paleontology, evolutionary biology, and plate tectonics. Trilobites are often placed within the arthropod subphylum Schizoramia within the superclass Arachnomorpha (equivalent to the Arachnata), although several alternative taxonomies are found in the literature.

Trilobites appear to have been exclusively marine organisms, since the fossilized remains of trilobites are always found in rocks containing fossils of other salt-water animals such as brachiopods, crinoids, and corals. Within the marine paleoenvironment, trilobites were found in a broad range from extremely shallow water to very deep water. Trilobites, like brachiopods, crinoids, and corals, are found on all modern continents, and occupied every ancient ocean from which Paleozoic fossils have been collected. The remnants of trilobites can range from the preserved body to pieces of the exoskeleton, which it sheds in the process known as ecdysis. In addition, the tracks left behind by trilobites living on the sea floor are often preserved as trace fossils.

There are three main forms of trace fossils associated with trilobites: Rusophycus; Cruziana & Diplichnites – such trace fossils represent the preserved life activity of trilobites active upon the sea floor. Rusophycus, the resting trace, are trilobite excavations involving little or no forward movement and ethological interpretations suggest resting, protection and hunting. Cruziana, the feeding trace, are furrows through the sediment, which are believed to represent the movement of trilobites while deposit feeding. Many of the Diplichnites fossils are believed to be traces made by trilobites walking on the sediment surface.However, care must be taken as similar trace fossils are recorded in freshwater and post Paleozoic deposits, representing non-trilobite origins.

Trilobite fossils are found worldwide, with many thousands of known species. Because they appeared quickly in geological time, and moulted like other arthropods, trilobites serve as excellent index fossils, enabling geologists to date the age of the rocks in which they are found. They were among the first fossils to attract widespread attention, and new species are being discovered every year.

In the United States, the best open to the public collection of trilobites is located in Hamburg, New York. Informally known as Penn Dixie, it was discovered in the 1970s by Dan Cooper. The shale quarry stopped mining in the 1960s but the amount of rock turnover showed large deposits of trilobites. As a well known rock collector, he incited scientific and public interest in the location. The fossils are dated to 350 million years ago when the Western New York Region was 30 degrees south of the equator and completely covered in water. The site was purchased from Vincent Bonerb, Cavalcoli by the Town of Hamburg with the cooperation of the Hamburg Natural History Society to protect the land from development. In 1994, the quarry became Penn Dixie Fossil Park & Nature Reserve when they received 501(c)3 status and was opened for visitation and collection of trilobite samples. The two most common found samples are Phacops rana and Greenops.

A famous location for trilobite fossils in the United Kingdom is Wren’s Nest, Dudley in the West Midlands, where Calymene blumenbachii is found in the Silurian Wenlock Group. This trilobite is featured on the town’s coat of arms and was named the Dudley Bug or Dudley Locust by quarrymen who once worked the now abandoned limestone quarries. Llandrindod Wells, Powys, Wales, is another famous trilobite location. The well-known Elrathia kingi trilobite is found in abundance in the Cambrian age Wheeler Shale of Utah.

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