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Trilobites in Love: Pilletina collensis

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Cross-section before preparation

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Great surprise: another trilobite!

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After glueing the pieces together

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During the preparation (1/2)

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During the preparation (2/2)

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The finished specimen

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This piece is truly exceptional in many respects. On the one hand it is a very rare complete trilobite from the north of Spain, on the other hand only one of the two trilobites was visible before the preparation. It is rare to see well-preserved fossils from the La Pedrosa Formation at all. This is mainly due to the fact that fossils from there are very difficult to prepare. The shell is extremely fragile and delicate and the rock quite sticky.

Before the preparation began, only the one cross-section of a half-rolled trilobite was visible. This alone would have to be called an outstanding find. During rough rock removal however, a second complete trilobite came to light, lying exactly next to the first one. Due to the soft and fragile shell, work had to be done very slowly and carefully in order to preserve the fine surface details (see tuberculation and eyes). The rock was shaped in the best possible way to display the full potential of the trilobites beauty.

Fossil: Pilletina collensis ARBIZU 1979

Locality: Spain

Formation: Devonian, Emsian, La Pedrosa Formation

Width of the trilobites: about 3 cm each (1.2 inches) 

Work required: 42 hours

Collection: Felix Collantes