Name: Asaphus
kowalewskii
Class
Trilobita; Order Asaphida;
Superfamily Asaphoidea; Family Asaphidae
Geological
Time: Middle Ordovician, Asery Horizon
Size: 70
mm long by 52 mm wide on a 152 mm by 115 mm matrix
Fossil
Site: Russian trilobites, Vilpovitsy Quarry, Wolchow River Region,
St Petersburg, Russia
|  Description:
Coming from the Middle Ordovician Asery Level deposits of the Wolchow River region
near Saint Petersburg, Russia, this is a large example of the trilobite Asaphus
kowalewskii. Its caramel-colored Calcite shell is well set off by the white limestone
matrix. The genus Asaphus underwent some remarkable adaptations to changes in
turbidity during the Ordovician, with this one presumably arising in a time of
increased turbidity. One thought is that the trilobite may have lain in wait for
prey buried in the bottom sediment with only its dramatic 28 mm periscope eyestalks
protruding.
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