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The Trilobite: The Best Fossils Ever

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With Many, Trilobite, The King In Fossil Hunting.

Just updated! July 2010. Trilobites are cool looking also are the right size and anyone can look for them. The ones you find you get to keep! How cool is that?  My son is holding this gem.  On his first hunt we found this one in the summer of 2004. This one is called a Flexicalymene Meeki.

My story of a trilobite find I had back in 2003 and I have pictures to go with it. Just below the story starts.
Also a story of 2008 finds.

***New Pictures from my finds from last July 2010 is down at the bottom of this lens.***
I keep adding my new fossil hunts that I have each year. So I will change the way this looks to something that will accommodate all the new hunts that I go on. I did just added my new hunt from this year.

In the near future, I will be uploading my own personal video of a trilobite hunt. This is one I took no still photos of.



All photos on this page are copyrighted, thanks.

The Top Five Reasons The Trilobite is the Best Fossils

  • It will get you outdoors.
  • The fun of the hunt.
  • The whole family can do it together.
  • You will learn new things.
  • There are many types of trilobites to look for.

The Hunt For A Trilobite. With Pictures.

Location.........Kentucky.............Near the Ohio River.

It was cool out overcast and it was raining.
Along a small creek bank I walked. Looking along a one foot thick layer of the creek bank. This is a layer of harden clay. The clay does soften and flake with time and sun light. Then sometimes gets washed away when the creek water comes up. At times showing a hint of a trilobite. I spot something different along the clay layers. A small bump with some lines on it. I look closer. Yes! There is one. I'm wondering how big this one will be.

Picture of the trilobite before I started. Can you see where it is? 

Get To Work!

Tweezers

Using my tweezers I carefully pull the clay off the trilobite. When you are doing this, make sure you only removing the clay. The trilobite is some what fragile and you can pull a piece of the trilobite off. So be careful. With wet knees and back I stayed at work. With every flake of clay I took off it, it kept getting bigger! I made sure that I did not damage the trilobite.

You can see about half of it. The trilobite is on its side. 

It Is Out!

All In One

It took about seven mins. to get the trilobite out of its tomb. In the picture you see its back side and tail. I set it on a rock that has a lot of fossils in it. You can do the same. Go out and have fun!

A Flexicalymene Meeki. It is the common trilobite found around here. 

For The Young Reader Spotlight

Dwight and the Trilobite (Get Ready-Get Set-Read!)

Dwight and the Trilobite (Get Ready-Get Set-Read!)

by: Gina Erickson M.A., Kelli C. Foster Ph.D.

Amazon Price: $0.89 (as of 01/28/2012)Buy Now

Don't Forget To Look Around

They maybe right under your feet

If you are finding trilobites in a creek bank there is some laying around. As flood waters or just high water goes through the creek it will wash some of the trilobites out of the bank. And leave them within the rocks along the creek. This picture I have here is one trilobite that I found with the rocks. I took the picture before I picked it up. It was in great shape. At times you will find one that has been weathered because it has been out of the bank for some time. I found this trilobite on a different day than the one above(note this trilobite is dry).

You might dig this book.

Check this out and see if I am right.

Collecting Fossils: Hold Prehistory in the Palm of Your Hand

Collecting Fossils: Hold Prehistory in the Palm of Your Hand

by: Steve Parker

Amazon Price: $7.44 (as of 01/28/2012)Buy Now

Collecting is in all of us.

Some Information

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The Trilobite Eye

Although they were not the first animals with eyes more...3 points

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Trilobite Classification Chart

For a long time, trilobites were considered the mo more...1 point

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Cincipaleo-Cincinnatian Trilobite

Welcome to Cincipaleo. Please enjoy images of Cinc more...1 point

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Some Trilobites of the Cincinnatian

Drawings and descriptions of the many of the Upper more...1 point

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Amazon.com: Trilobites: Books: Riccardo Levi-Setti

Amazon.com: Trilobites: Books: Riccardo Levi-Setti more...0 points

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Amazon.com: Trilobites: Common Trilobites of North America (A ...

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Don't stop here, there is more below.

Look around. Let me know what you like and did not. Please sign the guestbook. Also visit the advertisers on this page. Thanks

“CollectorsCottage says, "I love fossil hunting too."”

Fossils Items on Amazon

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One of My Finds

Found this one in May of 2001 in Lewis Co. Kentucky.

Videos about The Trilobite

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The Trilobite, The Trilobite!

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Fabulous Fossils: 300 Years of Worldwide Research on Trilobites by Donald G. Mikulic

Fabulous Fossils: 300 Years of Worldwide Research on Trilobites by Donald G. Mikulic

Fabulous Fossils is a timely and significant contr more...0 points

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Trilobites! by Kenneth Gass

Trilobites! by Kenneth Gass

Scientists Keith Parish and Rachel Sanders have fo more...0 points

Trilobites and Fossils on eBay

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More Of My Finds

A few more of the trilobites I have found and one calyx of a crinoid.
The calyx I found near Maysville, Kentucky and the others near Tollesboro, Kentucky.

What the web says about Trilobites.

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The Hunt Of The Elusive Trilobite

July 5, 2008

The hunting party was with my son Christopher, his cousin Dawson, and myself. We had some tools with us and they wanted to smack some rocks. It was hot and dry that day. We made sure that we did not pick up any wood ticks. The hunting grounds is a very deep road cut on the Double AA Highway in the state of Kentucky. The road cut is by the new bridge by Maysville KY. It is a very big area and a lot of hunting grounds to go over. This is somewhat a safe place to look because you are not by the highway.

The Hunting Party 

The Large Hunting Grounds 

Trilobite Spotlight

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A Very Good Day!

The boys looked and broke some rocks with their hammers. They picked up fossils they wanted and put them in their cardboard boxes. There are many fossils all around form many different animals. I had many of these from before, I was there to find a trilobite.

While the kids went to look and have fun, I zoned in on a harden clay layer. I looked for the signs of trilobite parts. They are an animal that molted as they got bigger so there are lots of parts. I started to find some and I hoped that I would find one that was whole. Wow! There is one! It was in the loosen clay. I pulled it out and it was bigger than a penny size. All of it was there. A very nice rolled up trilobite.

The Find 

The Day Got Better

I started to look on some rock ledges that were sticking out from the earth. I saw there were trilobite parts on them too. I looked along these ledges as they run horizontally. Brushing off dirt as I went down this ledge I saw a spot that had no dirt on it a there was one. As if it was saying I am right here. A nice prone (laid out flat) one. I had to break the rock because it was still in the earth. The boys were saying how neat it looked.

A Prone Trilobite 

That Days Find 

The Size 

Trilobite find in 2009

Just below is the new trilobites I found in 2009. The first pictures are at one location and the last three are at another location. Both locations are in Lewis County Kentucky near Tollesboro, Kentucky.
That day I found two trilobites.
The first one is a semi-prone one. A little part of the front is missing and is a nice size.
The other one is rolled up nice and tight. A little smaller that the first one. They both were laying loose from the matrix.
The flower is a nice touch when you are close to the ground.

Trilobite finds on July 3, 2009

Some wild flowers around me as I look for fossils.

Hunting I Go Again July 3, 2010

I went out to look for more trilobites on July 3, 2010. I did not know this until I wrote this that my hunt from last year is the same day that I went out this year.

I have two locations that I go to. It took me years of looking to find were trilobites are coming out of the ground. In Kentucky there are many places to find fossils but trilobites are hard to find. You will find many trilobite parts scattered all around. If you see trilobite parts that might be a good location to find whole trilobites. One of my locations is along a creek bank that keeps washing away. This location has produce the most trilobites that I have found. The other location is a road cut on the AA Highway in Lewis County, Kentucky. I have see many fossil clubs and schools do there hunting on this highway.

This year of 2010 I went out again to my locations. As I was looking for about forty-five minutes and was thinking I may not find any this year. I did notice that the spring floods did do a lot of washing away of the bank and there was a lot of loose material on the ground. I looked in the loose stuff that was under my feet. I found one and that made my day. I took a picture of it before I picked it up, I do that with all my finds. I looked in the same area and found another one. It was about one foot away from the other trilobite. Took pictures and look some more. There is another, again about a foot away from the other one. Again with the pictures. I did find another. Four in all and all were within five feet from each other. What a day that was.

The pictures of the trilobites below are in order of how I found them. The last picture is all four together.

The four I found

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More videos below the guestbook

There is a four part video of how to collect fossils.

There and some others I thought were interesting.

There are unknown trilobites out there, but make yourself known here!

Just a line or two or more if you will.

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More Trilobites Spotlight

Trilobites

Trilobites

by: Riccardo Levi-Setti

Amazon Price: $26.47 (as of 01/28/2012)Buy Now

The Largest Trilobite Find

It is around 28 inches long. I wish that I had found this one.

How To Collect Fossils

The Dry Dredgers

This is from a great group from Cincinnati, Ohio
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Trilobites and Fossils

Dangers of Fossil Hunting
by flyingscience | video info

3 ratings | 6,941 views
curated content from YouTube

Pictures from some friends at webshots.com

Do you like them? They most likely will not be fossils.

Go to webshots.com and search for trilobites.

If you like to see some of my pictures of nature, fossils, and fun at webshots.com, my user name there is lookingonn.
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James20

I live where the winter seasons get cold.  Sometimes very cold.  The state of Minnesota.      I make furniture for a living. ... more »

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