Home > Asaphus kowalewski

Asaphus kowalewski is one of the 35 species of the genus Asaphus (sometimes called Neoasaphus). Fossils of this species are popular among collectors because of their prominant stalked eyes, many an inch or more in length.

During the Ordovician period, several species of the genus Asaphus developed remarkable adaptations to changes in turbidity, with Asaphus kowalewski presumably arising in a time of increased turbidity. The trilobite may have lain in wait buried in a benthic layer of loose debris or sediment with only its periscope eyestalks protruding above, looking out for danger or prey.

Most of the fossils of this species are found in the middle Ordovician deposits of the Wolchow River region near Saint Petersburg, Russia.

References

• Some of the information in this article was taken from the website "A Guide to the Orders of Trilobites, by Sam Gon III.