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Description
The "classic trilobite" Phacops rana-- the state fossil of Pennsylvania. Surrounding this swarm are other common fossils of Pennsylvanis, including the gastropods Worthenia and Strobeus, the brachiopod Acrospirifer and the bivalve Leiopteria. Also included are a couple of speculative sea slugs.

Many of the colors and designs of this piece were based on New England tide pools. The Leiopteria, for example, are colored and clumped like Mytilis edulis, the common blue mussel of the Northern Atlantic. Additionally, the pink-gray background is a crustose coralline algae similar to the "bubble gum crust" Phymatolithon lenormandii which is common on intertidal rocks in New England (coralline algae possess a "skeleton" of calcium carbonate).

The dark purple seaweed along the edge is meant to resemble Chondrus crispus, a red algae that possess a blue iridescence when underwater.

The small yellow creatures in the bottom left are trilobite larvae called protaspids. Little more than headshields at this point, the protaspids will grow new body segments with each molt.

Description
The "classic trilobite" Phacops rana-- the state fossil of Pennsylvania. Surrounding this swarm are other common fossils of Pennsylvanis, including the gastropods Worthenia and Strobeus, the brachiopod Acrospirifer and the bivalve Leiopteria. Also included are a couple of speculative sea slugs.

Many of the colors and designs of this piece were based on New England tide pools. The Leiopteria, for example, are colored and clumped like Mytilis edulis, the common blue mussel of the Northern Atlantic. Additionally, the pink-gray background is a crustose coralline algae similar to the "bubble gum crust" Phymatolithon lenormandii which is common on intertidal rocks in New England (coralline algae possess a "skeleton" of calcium carbonate).

The dark purple seaweed along the edge is meant to resemble Chondrus crispus, a red algae that possess a blue iridescence when underwater.

The small yellow creatures in the bottom left are trilobite larvae called protaspids. Little more than headshields at this point, the protaspids will grow new body segments with each molt.