Myths

Trilobite myths, checked

Are trilobites still alive? No. Here is how we know, and nine other myths.

How this site works. Every fact is in our own words and linked to its source, beside it. Where good sources disagree, we show each version in a “Sources differ” box.

Are trilobites still alive?

None survive: there is no sign of hidden living trilobites in the deep ocean. NHM

Myths vs facts

1. MythTrilobites are still alive somewhere in the deep sea.

   FactNone survive: there is no sign of hidden living trilobites in the deep ocean. NHM

2. MythWoodlice and chitons are baby trilobites, or close cousins.

   FactChitons, woodlice and sea isopods look a bit like trilobites, but none is closely related. NHM Their closest living relatives might be horseshoe crabs. NHM

3. MythTrilobites lived with the dinosaurs.

   FactThat makes them about 100 million years older than the first shark and 290 million years older than the first dinosaur. NHM They vanish from the fossil record just before the Great Dying at the end of the Permian, when 90% of animals were wiped out. NHM

4. MythAll trilobites had the same kind of eye.

   FactSpecies had anything from one to several thousand lenses. NHM Others had no eyes at all, and may have burrowed in mud or lived deep in dark water. NHM

5. MythTrilobites were insects.

   FactTrilobites were sea animals and arthropods, the group that includes insects, spiders and crustaceans. NHM

6. MythTrilobite fossils are usually whole animals.

   FactA cast-off exoskeleton often fell to pieces, which is why trilobite fossils are usually found as fragments. BGS Shed exoskeletons, or parts of them, are relatively common fossils. Britannica

7. MythWe know nothing about their soft parts.

   FactSoft parts are known for only a few species, from special deposits called Lagerstätten. BGS A Burgess Shale fossil of Olenoides serratus, described in 2022, shows two pairs of legs interpreted as claspers. NHM news

8. MythTrilobites only ate mud.

   FactSome were predators and others scavengers, perhaps eating worm-like creatures and other small animals on the sea floor. NHM In 2023 scientists described a Bohemolichas incola with its last meal still in its gut: tiny crustaceans called ostracods, bivalves and a starfish relative. NHM

9. MythWelsh “petrified butterflies” were real butterflies.

   FactThe NHM explains the ‘butterflies’ as Merlinia tails that broke away and look like wings. NHM

10. MythYou can hammer fossils out of the rock faces at Wren’s Nest.

    FactDudley Council asks visitors not to use hammers or other tools on the rock faces, and to take only a few fossils at a time. Dudley Council, geology Collecting is allowed from the loose scree at the foot of the rock faces, but not from the faces themselves. Black Country Geopark