And those legs are jointed like the legs of a crab or a lobster. And as you looked at it, it would probably be crawling along, because underneath the carapace, which is the part you usually get preserved as fossils, there are lots of little legs. And it would be divided along its length into three lobes, hence its name. Fortey says trilobites were prehistoric beetles, and compared to the beetles of today they were large.įORTEY: Well, you'd notice something that was probably about as big as the palm of your hand, with a hard shell. And in homage to the creature he's devoted his life's work to, he's written a book called Trilobite: Eyewitness to Evolution. Richard Fortey is a senior paleontologist at the Natural History Museum in London. These comparatively small fossilized animals offer a more complete panorama of the prehistoric world than the mega-beasts and go back even further in time. Think of fossils and you'll likely think of dinosaurs, unless you're a kindred spirit of Richard Fortey. CURWOOD: It's Living on Earth, I'm Steve Curwood.
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