''Asaphus kowalewskii'' () is one of the 35 species of trilobites of the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

''Asaphus'' (this particular species is sometimes placed in its own genus, ''Neoasaphus'').

Fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

s of this species are popular among collectors because of their prominent stalked eyes (termed "peduncles"), many an inch or more in length. In the

Ordovician The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and System (geology), system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era (geology), Era, and the second of twelve periods of the Phanerozoic Eon (geology), Eon. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years f ...

period, an inland sea formed in what is now Eastern Europe. The sea contained a remarkably diverse trilobite fauna. Over a dozen species of ''Asaphus'' developed in this sea, with many species, including unrelated species, developing long eyestalks in various lengths. That so many species of trilobite developed eyestalks suggests that they were trying to overcome increased turbidity, or there was some sort of massive selective pressure leading these trilobites to bury themselves in the substrate up to their eyes. This species 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. The fossils of this species are found only in the middle Ordovician deposits of the Volkhov River region near

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References

* N. Lawrow (1856). ''Verhandlungen der Kaiserlichen mineralogischen Gesellschaft zu St. Petersburg Jahr 1855–1856''. * Some of the information in this article was taken from the websit
A Guide to the Orders of Trilobites
by Sam Gon III. * Ivantsov A.U., Paleontological Journal, Vol. 37, Suppl 3, 2003. {{Taxonbar, from=Q3761788 Asaphidae Ordovician arthropods Extinct animals of Russia Fossil taxa described in 1856