Trilobite

Trilobite Temporal range: Early Cambrian[1][2] – Late Permian, 521–251.9 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Montage of trilobite genera: Top row: Walliserops, Phacops and Cambropallas; bottom row: Isotelus, Kolihapeltis and Ceratarges
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
(unranked):	†Artiopoda
Subphylum:	†Trilobitomorpha
Class:	†Trilobita Walch, 1771[3]
Orders
Agnostida? Asaphida Corynexochida Harpetida Redlichiida Lichida Odontopleurida Phacopida Proetida Ptychopariida

Trilobites (/ˈtraɪləˌbaɪts, ˈtrɪlə-/;^[4][5][6] meaning "three lobes") are extinct marine arthropods that form the class Trilobita. Trilobites form one of the earliest known groups of arthropods. The first appearance of trilobites in the fossil record defines the base of the Atdabanian stage of the Early Cambrian period (521 million years ago) and they flourished throughout the lower Paleozoic before slipping into a long decline, when, during the Devonian, all trilobite orders except the Proetida died out. The last trilobites disappeared in the mass extinction at the end of the Permian about 251.9 million years ago. Trilobites were among the most successful of all early animals, existing in oceans for almost 270 million years, with over 22,000 species having been described.

By the time trilobites first appeared in the fossil record, they were already highly diversified and geographically dispersed. Because trilobites had wide diversity and an easily fossilized mineralised exoskeleton, they left an extensive fossil record. The study of their fossils has facilitated important contributions to biostratigraphy, paleontology, evolutionary biology, and plate tectonics. Trilobites are placed within the clade Artiopoda, which includes many organisms that are morphologically similar to trilobites, but are largely unmineralised. The relationship of Artiopoda to other arthropods is uncertain.

Trilobites evolved into many ecological niches; some moved over the seabed as predators, scavengers, or filter feeders, and some swam, feeding on plankton. Some even crawled onto land.^[7] Most lifestyles expected of modern marine arthropods are seen in trilobites, with the possible exception of parasitism (where scientific debate continues).^[8] Some trilobites (particularly the family Olenidae) are even thought to have evolved a symbiotic relationship with sulfur-eating bacteria from which they derived food.^[9] The largest trilobites were more than 70 centimetres (28 in) long and may have weighed as much as 4.5 kilograms (9.9 lb).^[10]