Isotelus
Isotelus was a trilobite, a sea creature with a hard shell that lived more than 440 million years ago, long before the dinosaurs. It had a big shovel-shaped head and large eyes. Some kinds grew huge, making it the biggest trilobite fossil ever found.
When did it live?
How fast is it?
Fun facts
The biggest one found, Isotelus rex, was about 72 centimetres long, as long as a big dog.
It is the state fossil of Ohio. Schoolchildren asked for that, and they got their wish in 1985.
In 1883 an Isotelus fossil was the first trilobite ever found with its legs still showing.
Its eyes were made of up to about 5,000 tiny lenses, a bit like a fly's eyes.
When it was a baby, it floated in the water and looked very different from the grown-ups.
Most asked questions about Isotelus
?When did Isotelus live?
In the Ordovician period, more than 440 million years ago, long before the dinosaurs.
?How big was Isotelus?
Some kinds grew over half a metre long, and the biggest fossil is about 72 centimetres.
?What is a trilobite?
A sea animal with a hard shell and many legs that lived long ago. Trilobites are distant relatives of insects, spiders and crabs.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Isotelus
- Named by
- De Kay, 1824
- Group
- Prehistoric giants
- Family
- Asaphidae
- Classification
- Trilobita > Asaphida > Asaphidae
Where the facts come from
- Isotelus (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Chris Woodrich. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@bugwiki.app and we will fix it.
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