This Calymene, celebra trilobite was a scavenger finding food on the ocean floor where it could easily burrow underneath the sand to hide from predators. Many of their fossils are often found rolled up in a defensive position. They were able to bend tightly due to their chiton exoskeletons fitted with overlapping sections. Think of roly-poly bugs, or pillbugs. Calymene celebra possessed smaller eyes than many other trilobite species.

Trilobites have the distinction of possessing a segmented body, multiple jointed limbs and an armored outer shell, placing them in the category of “arthropods” related to insects and crustaceans. Trilobite means three lobes in Greek, from “tri” and “lobos”, named for their three major lengthwise body sections.

Most trilobites grew to only about 3 inches (7.6 cm) long, while a few species reached almost 3 feet (1 meter) long!

Trilobites developed several different life styles; some moved over the seabed as predators or scavengers, while others were filter feeders, yet some swam along various ocean stratas feeding on plankton. Most were sluggish swimmers, while some later varieties were designed precisely for speed and swam in the mid-ocean, pelagic zones where more predators existed. 

This little Calymene trilobite crawled on the ocean floor around 400-440 million years ago during the Silurian to Devonian time periods, living up to 10 years. A good number of their fossils are found in Michigan and other Midwest states. During the Devonian period, Michigan and other Midwest States were situated near the equator submerged under warm shallow seas, which provided a perfect, nutrient-rich environment for trilobites to thrive in large numbers. The Calymene, celebra is Wisconsin’s official state fossil.

Trilobites existed and dominated the oceans for an amazing 270-300 million years beginning from the early Cambrian period, approximately 521 million years ago, to the end of the Permian period mass extinction, approximately 250 million years ago, which wiped out over 90% of all species living on Earth at the time.

Calymene Trilobite Classification

• Phylum: Arthropoda (Invertebrate animals with jointed legs, segmented bodies, exoskeletons made up of chiton, a tough fibrous material often mineralized with calcium carbonate)
• Class: Trilobota (Means three lobes or body sections. They are one of the earliest and most successful groups of artrhopods to appear in the fossil record with an estimated 22,000 species)
• Order: Phacopida (Means lens face, these trilobites lived from the late Cambrian Period to the late Devonian Time Period)
• Family: Calymenidae (Distinct, rounded shape of their head shield)
• Genus: Calymene (Small group of trilobites often found rolled up)
• Species: celebra

Check out my fiction books featuring factual prehistory insights blended with imaginative storytelling that entertain as they educate. Perfect for young explorers ages 11-15+ or young readers who simply like a good story, available on Amazon.com. Also available, a coloring/activity book featuring scenes from both books along with many of the plants and animals that lived during the amazing Devonian Time Period; fossil photos and descriptions included.