Trilobites belong to the Artiopoda, a group of extinct arthropods generally morphologically similar to trilobites, but aside from trilobites lacking mineralised exoskeletons. The largest trilobites were more than 45 centimetres (18 in) long and may have weighed as much as 4.5 kilograms (9.9 lb). Some trilobites (particularly the family Olenidae) are even thought to have evolved a symbiotic relationship with sulfur-eating bacteria from which they derived food. Most lifestyles expected of modern marine arthropods are seen in trilobites, with the possible exception of parasitism (where scientific debate continues). Trilobites evolved into many ecological niches some moved over the seabed as predators, scavengers, or filter feeders, and some swam, feeding on plankton. More recently they have been placed within the Artiopoda, which includes many organisms that are morphologically similar to trilobites, but are largely unmineralised.
Trilobites are often placed within the arthropod subphylum Schizoramia within the superclass Arachnomorpha (equivalent to the Arachnata), although several alternative taxonomies are found in the literature. The study of their fossils has facilitated important contributions to biostratigraphy, paleontology, evolutionary biology, and plate tectonics.
Because trilobites had wide diversity and an easily fossilized exoskeleton, they left an extensive fossil record. Trilobites were among the most successful of all early animals, existing in oceans for almost 270 million years, with over 22,000 species having been described.īy the time trilobites first appeared in the fossil record, they were already highly diversified and geographically dispersed. The last extant trilobites finally disappeared in the mass extinction at the end of the Permian about 252 million years ago. The first appearance of trilobites in the fossil record defines the base of the Atdabanian stage of the Early Cambrian period ( 521 million years ago) and they flourished throughout the lower Paleozoic before slipping into a long decline, when, during the Devonian, all trilobite orders except the Proetida died out. Trilobites form one of the earliest known groups of arthropods. Trilobites ( / ˈ t r aɪ l ə ˌ b aɪ t s, ˈ t r ɪ l ə-/ meaning "three lobes") are extinct marine arthropods that form the class Trilobita. Montage of trilobite genera: Top row: Walliserops, Phacops and Cambropallas bottom row: Isotelus, Kolihapeltis and Ceratarges
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