Isotelus maximus
Ordovician trilobite

Trilobites crawled along the bottom of shallow seas for around 300 million years, from the beginning of the Cambrian Period to the end of the Permian Period. The name “trilobite” means “three lobes.” They were an ancient kind of arthropod, the group that includes insects, spiders, and crustaceans.

The Isotelus trilobite is the state fossil of Ohio, and trilobites of this genus are the largest in the world. Some reached over two feet in length! They lived during the Ordovician Period, between 480 and 430 million years ago.

Length: 9 inches