Ask A Scientist - What is a Trilobite?

What is a trilobite? Albert Kollar, Collection Manager of Invertebrate Paleontology, shares his knowledge of this extinct animal including how to pronounce “trilobite,” the three parts of the trilobite body, and which trilobite species is the state fossil of Pennsylvania.
 
Ask a Scientist is a video series where we ask our research staff questions about the millions of amazing objects and specimens stored in our museum collection. Tune in on YouTube, and submit your own questions via Twitter @CarnegieMNH!

[Kingdom_of_Vinumia]

My dad found a trilobite in St. Helena California in a small creek, he took it to San Francisco where it was guessed to be 350 Million years old, I was little at the time and don't remember him finding it, he lost it for years, searching for it at home and in his trucks till today he found it again in his truck in Middletown California. July 18th,

[salaali]

So do all trilobites have exoskeletons?

[daltonfarris]

Man all you did was show them off and tell us about how they were fossils I wanna know how long they were the most dominant species and when they were first created, and some information on how devastating the massextinction even that killed them would have been,