Fearless fossil hunters
After sitting next to me at work for 3+ years, I’m surprised that Sasha didn’t know I was into fossils. This trilobite is my prized possession, fossil-wise, paired with a really nice tattoo I found in modify_evolution’s flickr photostream (gotta keep it on-theme, right?):
I found it in an abandoned quarry in the bluffs in Alton, Illinois, just a few miles outside of my hometown of St. Louis (and across the Mississippi) when I was about 9 years old. My friend Ezra had just found an excellent trilobite fossil near there the weekend before, and I begged my dad to take me (and Ezra) to the same spot to look for more. I didn’t have much hope that I’d find one as nice as Ezra’s, but sure enough, I picked this one out of the gravel. I’m sure my dad was relieved that I found something; he had been ready to go home for quite a while..
The photos after the jump will give you a better indication of scale…
Macchiato and Sylvie like fossils, too (or at least think they smell good…)!
Ink Nerd 
Nice!
Have you had it identified? Maybe a calymene?
It’s amazing how many fossils you can find in the right places.
June 3, 2008 at 9:57 am
Thanks, Glendon. You can do that? How would one go about getting his fossil identified (if you know what I mean…)?
Congrats on your Flying Trilobite tattoo, btw, and on its being featured on Carl Zimmer’s Science Tattoo Emporium!
June 10, 2008 at 7:51 am
No Problem Josh, and thanks for the congrats.
To get it identified, a tough way would be to ask an invertebrate palaeontologist from a museum. Sometimes they may have the time. [ducks, dodges}
I would recommend Sam Gon III’s Guide to the Order of Trilobites to get started narrowing down what it might be using the tremendous amount of photos.
There’s probably lots of people who’d be willing to do it. On my site there’s a trilobite webring link down at the bottom.
I like your site. I’ll be coming back often.
June 10, 2008 at 10:28 am