Sunday, July 13, 2008

Flexicalymene meeki

This trilobite was found near Mt. Washington, Kentucky (a little ways east of Louisville) on the Bardstown Road cut.

I spent time trying to figure out whether this was Calymene or Flexicalymene because the eyes are partially obstructed by matrix. The nose seems small and the head (cephalon) triangular. It was found in Ordovician rock so with the previous two features rules out a Phacops trilobite. I counted 13 segments in the thorax which puts in the correct range of 11-13. The tail or pygidium is slightly broke off and at an angle from the rest of the body.

Eventually, this specimen will be sand blasted to see if more detail of the head can be revealed.

Good trilobite research >webpage