Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Asaphus kowalewskii.

Asaphus kowalewskii was a peculiar genus of trilobite from the Ordovician period. It is sometimes classified as its own genus, Neoasaphus.

Asaphus kowalewskii had eyes on stalks, which probably helped it avoid turbid water (turbid water is murky water), which would cloud its vision. If it didn't evolve the eyes on stalks, it would have been devoured by predators because it would not be able to see right in the turbid water at the bottom.


A. kowalewskii probably crawled around beneath the mud and sand at the bottom of the ocean, with its two eyestalks poking out to watch for danger. A. kowalewskii had eyestalks that were sometimes as tall as one inch.


A. kowalewskii is a popular fossil because of its odd eyestalks. It has only been found in Russia. A. kowalewskii probably lived alongside animals such as Cothurnocystis.

2 comments:

  1. I've spent hours searching for a trilobite, but I've only ever found brachiopods.

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  2. I've never even seen a fossilized brachiopod or a living brachiopod. I wish I could go to the Wheeler Shale to look for trilobites.

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