Bryozoan Or Skin? Ah - It's A Trilobite!

[hitekmastr]

At first I thought this was a "sheet" of a bryozoan however there are impressions showing through from the other side of something branching (see arrows) which could conceivably be "bones" - turns out this is a trilobite (see the posts below). Another fascinating surprise from our fossil finds...

Edited July 27, 2012 by hitekmastr

[Acryzona]

Maybe a part of a trilobite? Is it Devonian?

P.S. never mind about the Devonian question... just saw your tags!

Edited July 27, 2012 by Acryzona

[piranha]

Mystery solved as it is part of a trilobite. After reorienting the photo it becomes apparent that you found a partial cranidium of a Dipleura dekayi. Attached is another example for comparison. The arrows in the original photo highlight the occipital ring and glabella above it. I'd certainly be hunting that exposure thoroughly for a complete one! Congrats on a nice find.

[hitekmastr]

Mystery solved as it is part of a trilobite. After reorienting the photo it becomes apparent that you found a partial cranidium of a Dipleura dekayi. Attached is another example for comparison. The arrows in the original photo highlight the occipital ring and glabella above it. I'd certainly be hunting that exposure thoroughly for a complete one! Congrats on a nice find.

Wow - this is much more exciting than we suspected! It supports our belief that it's critical to closely study all samples AFTER returning home, which is what we do, both by eye and with a closeup camera. Your ID suggests that some of the peculiar fragments in our sample mix that didn't look exactly like cephalopods or brachiopods may be portions of this trilobite. We'll take another look and if anything pops up we'll post more pix here. Thanks for the VERY quick and thoughtful ID!

[Herb]

Mystery solved as it is part of a trilobite. After reorienting the photo it becomes apparent that you found a partial cranidium of a Dipleura dekayi. Attached is another example for comparison. The arrows in the original photo highlight the occipital ring and glabella above it. I'd certainly be hunting that exposure thoroughly for a complete one! Congrats on a nice find.

Nice ID!