| Terataspis grandis Temporal range: Devonian |
|
|---|---|
| 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.