Search for trilobites at this private quarry with volunteer leaders from our NHSM Fossil Club. The mostly shale rock from the Middle Devonian Mahantango Formation is home to a diverse set of prehistoric life including brachiopods, bryozoans, mollusks, corals, graptolites, and even cephalopods, squid-like animals with shells.
Trilobites, the site’s main draw, originate from one of the earliest groups of arthropods, the phylum which includes insects, spiders, and centipedes on land and crabs, lobsters, and barnacles in water. They were one of the most successful of all early animals, existing in oceans for almost 270 million years, with over 22,000 species found. Trilobites finally disappeared in the Permian-Triassic extinction about 251.9 million years ago.
Surface collecting, digging, and chiseling are methods used for the hunt here.
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For questions, please email Jayne at JAsh@marylandnature.org.