Uploaded December 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
It took three major mass extinctions to end trilobites’ more than 250-million year evolutionary lifespan. To understand what these ancient ocean-dwellers—which preceded non-avian dinosaurs and spent more time on Earth—can teach us about surviving (and not surviving) mass extinctions, scientists must piece together the clues they left behind in the fossil record, including their hard exoskeletons as well as traces in rock that reveal their behavior.
Join Melanie Hopkins, curator in the Division of Paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History, to explore these arthropods through the Museum’s extensive collection of trilobite specimens. With scientists describing new species every year—in addition to the 22,000 already on the books—there’s still so much to uncover about these animals.
Explore more science questions with Museum curators in our “Meet the Scientists” playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrfcruGtplwF-NyC34X2zVb3jQiLZFsXe
#paleontology #trilobite #fossils #extinction
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This video and all media incorporated herein (including text, images, and audio) are the property of the American Museum of Natural History or its licensors, all rights reserved. The Museum has made this video available for your personal, educational use. You may not use this video, or any part of it, for commercial purposes, nor may you reproduce, distribute, publish, prepare derivative works from, or publicly display it without the prior written consent of the Museum.
© American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY
It took three major mass extinctions to end trilobites’ more than 250-million year evolutionary lifespan. To understand what these ancient ocean-dwellers—which preceded non-avian dinosaurs and spent more time on Earth—can teach us about surviving (and not surviving) mass extinctions, scientists must piece together the clues they left behind in the fossil record, including their hard exoskeletons as well as traces in rock that reveal their behavior.
Join Melanie Hopkins, curator in the Division of Paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History, to explore these arthropods through the Museum’s extensive collection of trilobite specimens. With scientists describing new species every year—in addition to the 22,000 already on the books—there’s still so much to uncover about these animals.
Explore more science questions with Museum curators in our “Meet the Scientists” playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrfcruGtplwF-NyC34X2zVb3jQiLZFsXe
#paleontology #trilobite #fossils #extinction
***
Subscribe to our channel:
youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=AMNHOrg
Check out our full video catalog:
youtube.com/user/AMNHorg
This video and all media incorporated herein (including text, images, and audio) are the property of the American Museum of Natural History or its licensors, all rights reserved. The Museum has made this video available for your personal, educational use. You may not use this video, or any part of it, for commercial purposes, nor may you reproduce, distribute, publish, prepare derivative works from, or publicly display it without the prior written consent of the Museum.
© American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY
