Trilobite research
This Ordovician trilobite Ogygiocarella from Wales is approximately 460 million years old
Project summary
- Focus: Trilobite research covering taxonomy, phylogeny, functional morphology, biogeography, and the refinement of the Palaeozoic timescale
We study trilobites from four periods of the Palaeozoic: the Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian and Devonian.
Our research covers trilobite taxonomy, phylogeny, functional morphology, biogeography, and the refinement of the geological timescale.
Trilobites provide an unparalleled sample set for understanding evolutionary patterns in Palaeozoic marine rocks. There are more than 20,000 known species.
Our current research projects include:
- completing the description of one of the most diverse trilobite faunas in the world, the Ordovician trilobites of Spitsbergen, Norway
- limb anatomy of trilobites - reconstructing complete trilobite anatomy from the Silurian Lagerstätte, Herefordshire, UK, in collaboration with Prof Derek Siveter from the University of Oxford
- investigating the co-occurrence of gigantic trilobites in early Ordovician strata in Morocco
- systematics of paradoxidids
- systematics and ontogeny of silicified Ordovician trilobites from the Precordillera terrane, Argentina
Museum staff
- Dr Greg Edgecombe
- Prof Richard Fortey
- Dr Adrian Rushton
Collaborators
- Prof Derek Siveter
University of Oxford
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