This alien-looking trilobite, known as Ceratarges ziregensis, has a strikingly otherworldly appearance. It's difficult to believe that this creature once roamed the ancient seas. Found in the Middle Devonian limestone of Morocco, its impressive size and numerous spines may have been used for defense against newly-evolved fish with powerful jaws.

Trilobites, an early arthropod relative of spiders, horseshoe crabs, and scorpions, preserved in this level of detail only occurred as a result of very sudden underwater landslides called turbidite sequences, which ravaged the early earth when the continents were still very much on the move. The contorted body positions of the trilobites demonstrate a final fight against being buried alive.

Species: Ceratarges ziregensis

Location: Zireg, Morocco

Weight: 299.6 grams, Size: 4 x 3 x 4 inches