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Something caught my eye at the cheap table of trilobites at a Moroccan vender at a past fossil show. There were several Scabriscutellum of mediocre quality but I bought two. You can see them here. I am pretty certain these fossils are legit. One seems to have to have a clear cleft in the pygidium. There is even a small overlap of one pygidial "lobe" over the other. This is the first time I have seen such a "dramatic" mutation. I would guess that it is far more likely to be a developmental issue rather then a genetic mutation. The cleft trilobite obviously survived to its current size just fine (both approx. 4cm or 1.5 inches long). What do you think? Has anyone seen similar mutations within a species?

Ever since I first got my Scabriscutellum sp. I've felt like something was off with the pydium but could never place it. That is until today. I realised that the pydium on my trilobite was inverted as opposed to most pictures I've seen. By that I mean the lines along the pydium (sorry I don't know the technical term, if anyone wants to enlighten me that would be appreciated) which appear to be raised in most photos are depressed. Here's a picture of a "normal" scabriscutellum. (Hopefully you can tell what I'm on about.) As you can see raised lines along the pydium. However here's a picture of my scabriscutellum. As you can see quite the opposite. I'm curious is this some sort of pathology, differing species or sign of fakery? Here's where it gets interesting, circled in red are a few of several discolored spots where the shell seems to be missing. When I first noticed these I thought perhaps plastic, that the ends of the spines had broken off and replaced with painted plastic. However a hot needle test proves these spots are not plastic. Also interesting, there are what look like air bubbles in the matrix which I am 100% positive is real rock and not resin. (Result of volcanic activity maybe?) Today though I also found pictures of another scabriscutellum with the weird tail and it also has the discoloration. I'm honestly a bit confused and a lot curious any opinions are appreciated.

Hi all, I've this nice Moroccan trilobite. The seller did not know what genus or species it was. I have an inkling that it is Scabriscutellum, though could be wrong. Can the genus or species be pinpointed? Thank you! Jojo