Elrathia: No measured body size data available to draw at scale.
- · Grid units represent actual meters (m); human and animals are drawn to the exact same scale with original silhouette aspect ratios preserved.
- · When a size range is recorded (e.g. 1–1.6m), the lower bound is used for scale comparison.
- · Human silhouette: PhyloPic — NASA · Public Domain Mark 1.0
Elrathia
Elrathia kingi (Elrathia · Elrathia)
Known only from fossils. The IUCN Red List assesses only species extant since 1500 CE, so fossil taxa are not assigned a category.
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Having 1,000 individuals in 1 m² in a single layer means a thousand of them were packed tightly onto an area the size of a single doormat (about 1 m²) (Comparison).
- 💡 This trilobite is so abundant that it is mined and made into bolo ties, earrings, and belt buckles for sale, and sold worldwide to collectors and museums. Trilobites encountered in rock shops or educational fossil kits are usually this species.
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
📖 1. Overview
Elrathia kingi (genus Elrathia) is the most famous trilobite from the Wheeler Shale of the House Range in Utah, United States, and the most abundant species found in that formation. The Natural History Museum of Utah explains that millions of fossils of this species have been found.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
The University of California Museum of Paleontology at Berkeley uses this species as a model when explaining trilobite body structure. Its body is divided into three parts—a central axis and two side lobes—and its head is crescent-shaped, usually with two compound eyes.
🔍 3. Fossil Record & Paleoecology
It thrived even on oxygen-poor sea floors, and in some layers 1,000 individuals were crowded into 1 m². Trilobites are generally thought to have walked along the bottom eating food particles in the sediment.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • Fossil taxon — the IUCN Red List assesses only species living or extinct since 1500
- • paleobiodb.org — basicTaxonInfo
- • wikidata.org — Q49552344
- • ucmp.berkeley.edu — house.html
- • ucmp.berkeley.edu — trilobitamm.html
- • ucmp.berkeley.edu — trilobitalh.html
- • ucmp.berkeley.edu — fieldtrip17 08b.php
- • nhmu.utah.edu — millard
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.