Triobite Parabolina sp

PALEOFAUNA OF VENEZUELA. - The Cojedeño Trilobite. More information: Instagram, YouTube, TikTok: @eldinogerardo

Clarifications: The following official information on this species dates from the 1958 publication by E. A. Frederickson of the University of Oklahoma, along with the work and research of Cecilia Martín Bellizzia in 1956. The conclusions regarding these findings may be subject to change. However, they are solidly based.

Unfortunately, detailed information on Paleozoic life, especially during and after the "Cambrian Explosion," is scarce compared to that available on more recent Pleistocene fauna, for example, but it is nonetheless absent. Which brings us to talk today about a spiny little animal, Parabolina sp., belonging to the trilobite group, an ancient group of invertebrate arthropods that inhabited the Earth throughout the Paleozoic Era, from the Cambrian to the Permian, and whose varied shapes and sizes have been described and classified into more than 20,000 species. What distinguishes this peculiar trilobite (more precisely, an olenoid) from others is that it is probably one of the oldest fossils in the country, with a (not entirely clear) dating from the late Cambrian to early Ordovician periods.

Originally described in the 1950s as a variant of the species P. argentina kayser by E. A. Frederickson, today its specific classification, although dubious, remains aligned with Parabolina sp. It was first described and investigated by one of the country's leading geologists, Dr. Cecilia Martín Bellizzia, of the then-Geology Department of the Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons of Venezuela. It was one of the first reports of trilobites in the El Baúl region, Cojedes state, and was found in metamorphic rocks of unclear age, along with other specimens of the same species.

It was a medium-sized trilobite distinguished by being surrounded by defensive spines even on its pygidium. It fed on detritus and decomposing remains, and since several individuals were found, it is likely that they lived in groups or were in breeding season.

Sources:
Paper 1958: TRILOBITE FROM THE LOWER TREMADOCIAN OF VENEZUELA.

Illustration and writing by Gerardo Guillen Poleo @eldinogerardo