franzanth: The Colorful World of the Trilobites Not unlike today’s waters, dangers lurked from
franzanth: The Colorful World of the Trilobites Not unlike today’s waters, dangers lurked from every direction in the prehistoric seas. The need to defend oneself and camouflage spawned a menagerie of quirky creatures with spines, stalks, and ‘staches – the trilobites. Far from being blobs of black and brown, these creatures likely came in every imaginable color like today’s crustaceans. This illustration series attempts to portray what the creatures could’ve been like, as seen through their calcite crystal eyes. Highlights from the story: Trilobites are so weird compared to living animals, the first scientific assessment of a trilobite fossil considered it some kind of a flatfish. They weren’t all bottom-dwellers. Some swam in the open seas, even upside-down. Their eyes were made of calcite crystals. One trilobite, Edgredgeops, also had similar crystalline structures on its back that might indicate spotted body pattern. People think that extinct critters failed to adapt to the changing environment, but trilobites actually existed for almost 300 million years. Compare that to dinosaurs, which have only existed for 252 million years even if we include living birds. Hail invertebrates. Read the full story · Buy the image as poster or merch — Tumblr is now blocked here so I won’t post often. Follow me elsewhere:Facebook · Instagram · Twitter · Ko-fi · Patreon · Shop -- source link