TF0611 Trinucleid

Ordovician to Silurian

Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Trilobita
Order: Asaphida
Family: Trinucleidae

Cephalon
Thorax
Pygidium
Large fringe at front of cephalon

External mould (manmade)

Trinucleids were fast moving low level epifaunal suspension feeders. The large fringe at the front of the cephalon may have been for food gathering, and their large cephalon size may have been an antipredatory adaptation. Some exceptionally preserved specimens have been found with sediment in the guts of the animals, perhaps supporting the suspension-feeding hypothesis.