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Isotelus
EntityQ44087· pop 13· linked from 83 articles

is an extinct genus of large asaphid trilobites from the Middle and Late Ordovician Period, fairly common in the northeastern United States into eastern Canada. Isotelus is the state fossil of Ohio, and through multiple specimens from the 1800s into the modern day has held the title of largest trilobite fossil in the world, reaching over long. Isotelus was carnivorous and a burrower which lived in warm shallow seas, feeding on worms and other soft-bodied animals on and below the substrate. As larvae, Isotelus was planktonic, drifting in the water column with a morphology very different from th

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Isotelus brachycephalus.JPG
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Isotelus
taxon name
Isotelus
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~23 min read

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12 sections
Contents
  • History
  • Description
  • Ventral anatomy and patterning
  • Paleobiology
  • Feeding
  • Burrowing and terrace structures
  • Distribution
  • Species
  • Group 1
  • Group 2
  • Group 3
  • References

is an extinct genus of large asaphid trilobites from the Middle and Late Ordovician Period, fairly common in the northeastern United States into eastern Canada. Isotelus is the state fossil of Ohio, and through multiple specimens from the 1800s into the modern day has held the title of largest trilobite fossil in the world, reaching over long. Isotelus was carnivorous and a burrower which lived in warm shallow seas, feeding on worms and other soft-bodied animals on and below the substrate. As larvae, Isotelus was planktonic, drifting in the water column with a morphology very different from the adult. Their distinctive morphology with a large shovel-like head, prominent eyes, long genal spines, and their enormous size, makes Isotelus one of the most sought after trilobites in North America.

==History==

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