Trilobites played follow-the-leader

[Halichoeres]

Some really nice slabs preserve multiple columns of the trilobite Ampyx priscus that show strong evidence of joint movement. The authors speculate that it could be collective foraging, or some kind of mating aggregation. Either way, it's really adorable:


(The trilobite marked (x) is Asaphellus, who might be wondering just what is going on.)

Paper is open access in Scientific Reports: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-51012-3

[Faelrin]

Definitely a fascinating fossil discovery, and they certainly are a cute bunch, even if long dead I guess (including the one that wasn't like the others, that I can only ask if it was lost). I do wonder what unfortunate scenario they found themselves in to allow this to preserve as well as it did, including them in positions of what they were doing in life. I did skim the paper and see that it suggests water poisoning or anoxic conditions was possibly what did them in.

[Kotori_Sonoda]

It's a trilobite train! So cute!