Interestingly, trilobites found on Anticosti are known for being two to three times larger in size than similar ones found elsewhere around the world. Over the years, 52 trilobite species have been discovered on the island, including well-preserved Dicalymene schucherti, Failleana magnifica and Arctinurus anticostiensis specimens. However, their presence is more abundant in some spots than others.Īnticosti Island, for example, is a remote landmass off the southeastern coast of Quebec, Canada, and a “trilobite treasure trove,” according to Secher, due to its thick sedimentary layers that reveal North America’s most complete geological strata stretching from the Silurian period (approximately 444 million to 419 million years ago) to the Ordovician period (approximately 485 million to 444 million years ago). With some 20,000 scientifically recognized trilobite species, they can be found all over the world. Trilobites, or “bugs” as they’re often called within the paleontology community-they look eerily similar to insects and contain three main body segments as well, including the cephalon (head), thorax (body), and pygidium (tail)-are actually quite common as far as fossils go. “I began writing about them as an enthusiast, simply out of love and knowledge.” “My previous career allowed me to travel the world and visit museums, go to dig sites, and often write about trilobites for different science publications,” he says. For 30 years, he was the editor of the rock ‘n’ roll music magazine Hit Parader, while he honed his expertise in trilobites. Which makes sense, considering that Secher started off his trilobite trek as a layman himself. “When writing it, I looked to Anthony Bourdain, who centered his own writings not just on food, but on the places he visited and the people he met. “I geared my book for the layman and not for experts,” Secher says. He explores breathtaking paleontological hot spots around the world―including Alnif, Morocco, on the edge of the Sahara Desert the Sakha Republic, deep in the Siberian wilderness and Kangaroo Island, off the coast of South Australia―and offers a behind-the-scenes look at museums, fossil shows, and life on the collectors’ circuit. Travels with Trilobites: Adventures in the PaleozoicĪndy Secher invites readers to come along in search of the fossilized remains of these ancient arthropods. More recently, Secher added another bullet point to his résumé with the release of his book Travels with Trilobites: Adventures in the Paleozoic, which takes readers on a journey to some of the best places around the world to see these ancient arthropods, from museum collections to quarry fossil beds. In his book he writes, “Even at a very early stage in the history of life on our planet, the trilobite design had already proven to possess a certain degree of evolutionary perfection.” Add to that the fact that there’s such a variety of specimens out there, resembling everything from what he describes as a “hydrodynamic spaceship” to “nothing more than a primordial meatloaf,” and it’s easy to see why collectors like Secher are thirsty for trilobites. So, what is it about trilobites that make them different from other fossils? For Secher, the answer is simple. (The fact that the world-renowned museum, with its thousands of specimens, is less than a half-mile walk from his apartment makes the quip all the more humorous.) “I often joke that I have the largest trilobite collection on the Upper West Side,” Secher says. There, for the past 15 years, he has been co-editor of the museum’s popular Trilobite website. His passion for fossils, and specifically trilobites-extinct hard-shelled marine invertebrates that existed during the Paleozoic Era, a time period that stretched around 289 million years-led him to a career as a field associate in paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH). Fast forward to adulthood and Secher has amassed a personal collection of some 5,000 fossils, which he houses inside his 1,650-square-foot Manhattan apartment. He was seven years old and riding the school bus when the bus driver showed him and the other students a specimen that he had unearthed during a weekend dig in Upstate New York. Andy Secher remembers the first time he came face to face with a fossil.
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