Genuine Phacops Trilobite Fossil - Anti Atlas Mountains, Morocco

Own a piece of prehistoric history with this Phacops trilobite specimen which is sold as seen, from the Devonian Period, dating back 390 to 400 million years ago.

This ancient marine creature thrived when Morocco’s Anti-Atlas region was a shallow, tropical sea on the supercontinent Gondwana. Living on the muddy ocean floor, these benthic scavengers were instantly buried alive by sudden underwater storms called turbidites.

This rapid burial sealed out oxygen and predators, allowing minerals to perfectly replace their calcite shells over millions of years to create durable, dark grey stone fossils before the entire Phacopida order went extinct.

The standout feature of this specimen is its advanced, unique visual system. Phacops possessed schizochroal eyes made of pure calcite crystal lenses, expertly curved to correct underwater light distortion and provide a nearly 360-degree view of the sea floor. These clever organisms were also masters of defence, frequently fossilized mid-action using a "defensive roll" to tuck their tails under their head shields. This exceptional fossil offers a rare, beautifully preserved look at early marine life and evolutionary design.

This phacops specimen shows;
- Head Texture: Looking closely at the top-down view, the large central bump on the head (the glabella) is covered in distinct, rough, pimple-like bumps called tubercles.
- Eye Position: In the side profile photo it shows the eye area sitting quite high up on the side of the head shield, rather than being low and flattened against the cheek.
- Overall Colour: The dark grey to blackish mineralization is very characteristic of classic Moroccan Phacops specimens extracted from the Alnif or Erfoud regions of the Anti-Atlas Mountains.
- Specimen weighs approx. 0.76g and measures approx. 1.3cms x 0.8cms x 0.4cms and comes presented in a small magnifier box.