Paradoxides fossil map
Where fossils of Paradoxides have been found, shown on the Earth as it looked about 500 million years ago and on today’s map.
Dots are fossil collections recorded in the Paleobiology Database. The “then” view moves today’s fossil sites back to their positions 500 million years ago (the time slice nearest the median age of the fossils) using the Merdith et al. (2021) plate model; positions are approximate. Open on the timeline map →
| Group | Trilobites & sea scorpions |
|---|---|
| Lived | 516.2–497 million years ago (Stage 3 to Guzhangian) |
| Periods | Cambrian |
| Family | Paradoxididae |
| Named by | Brongniart 1822 |
| Fossil records | 138 occurrences at 57 locations (PBDB) |
| Found in | Czechia, Türkiye, Canada, Spain, Sweden, France, Russian Federation, Poland, United States, Norway … |
| Rock formations | Jince, Chamberlain's Brook, Sosink, txn:133755, Murero, Alum Shale |
About Paradoxides
Paradoxides is a genus of large to very large trilobite found throughout the world during the Middle Cambrian period. One record-breaking specimen of Paradoxides davidis, described by John William Salter in 1863, is 37 cm (15 in). The cephalon was semicircular with free cheeks ending in long, narrow, recurved spines. Eyes were crescent shaped providing an almost 360° view, but only in the horizontal plane. Its elongate thorax was composed of 19–21 segments and adorned with longish, recurved pleural spines. Its pygidium was comparatively small. Paradoxides is a characteristic Middle-Cambrian trilobite of the 'Atlantic' (Avalonian) fauna. Avalonian rocks were deposited near a small continent called Avalonia in the Paleozoic Iapetus Ocean. Avalonian beds are now in a narrow strip along the East Coast of North America, and in Europe.
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Paradoxides (revision 1321841097), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; introduction excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Ages, family, authority and fossil records: Paleobiology Database, accessed 22 October 2026. Ages are those of the rock layers the fossils were found in.
