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Teaser Wild Worlds in the nhm
Welcome to the Wild Worlds!

DEVON

400 million years ago, Rhineland-Palatinate lay south of the equator and was almost completely covered by a tropical sea.

419 MILLION YEARS - 359 MILLION YEARS

The sea was teeming with diverse life. Strange fish and primitive squids swam in the water. Sea lilies and corals settled on the sea floor. Starfish and brittle stars wandered across the seabed, and trilobites searched for food there. Giant sea scorpions, the largest arthropods of all time, hunted for prey. On land, life existed only in the form of simple plants and small arthropods. The climate worldwide was warmer than today. The poles were ice-free, causing sea levels to rise.

Jaekelopterus

THE TRILOBIT

Trilobites can be divided lengthwise and
crosswise into three parts. This is why they are also called three-lobed creatures.
Trilobites had armored body segments on their backs that were connected to
each other in a flexible manner. When danger threatened, they rolled themselves into
a hard ball to
protect their sensitive undersides. Trilobites belong to the arthropod family.
Chotecops ferdinandi was one of the most common trilobites in the Devonian Sea. But be careful: many trilobite fossils are not the animal itself, but only a shed shell.

Hidden subtleties
This trilobite (Chotecops ferdinandi) was swept away and buried
by a mudslide. Micro-computed tomography reveals the parts of the body
hidden in the rock.

Explanations and notes

Picture credits

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