Terataspis grandis

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Terataspis grandis
Fossil range: Devonian

Conservation status
Extinct (fossil)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Trilobita
Order: Lichida
Moore, 1959
Family: Lichidae
Genus: Terataspis
Species: T. grandis

Terataspis grandis (which may be translated as "great monster shield") was a huge (relative to other trilobites), 60 centimetre long lichid trilobite from the Devonian. It lived in a shallow sea in what is now New York State and Ontario. No whole specimens have been found, only disarticulated fragments of its exoskeleton, but enough fragments have been found to allow researchers to form reconstructions of the whole animal.

T. grandis, like many other trilobites, was presumed to have been a detritivore that was also an opportunistic predator, preying on small burrowing animals, such as molluscs, worms, or arthropods, it came across.

[edit] External links

  • "Largest Trilobites" by Sam M. Gon III [1]