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Drotops — Drotops
Drotops — Daderot, Wikimedia Commons, CC0

Trilobite

Drotops

Moroccan phacopid

Drotops megalomanicus and the spiny D. armatus are the large phacopid trilobites of the Eifelian El Otfal Formation at Jbel Issoumour near Alnif, distinguished by big schizochroal eyes and, in D. armatus, a coat of short spines. They are the flagship Moroccan trilobites: prone, enrolled and flying specimens on limestone pedestals. D. armatus spines are the parts most often resin-restored.

PhylumArthropoda
ClassTrilobita
OrderPhacopida
FamilyPhacopidae
GroupTrilobite
Sizeto 15 cm
Rank (PBDB)genus· Paleobiology Database
AuthorStruve 1990· Paleobiology Database
Classification (PBDB)Arthropoda › Trilobita › Phacopida › Phacopidae· Paleobiology Database
Range (PBDB)393–382 Ma· Paleobiology Database
PBDB occurrences5· Paleobiology Database

Restoration and fakes

Moroccan specimens average 20–25 % restoration; composites and fully cast fakes exist. Under UV, resin fill fluoresces bright white or blue-white; genuine limestone and shell stay dull.

Photographs

Drotops — Drotops armatus Struve, 1995
Drotops armatus Struve, 1995 — Smithsonian Institution (NMNHPALEO), Smithsonian Open Access, CC0
Drotops — Drotops armatus
Drotops armatus — Smithsonian Institution (NMNHPALEO), Smithsonian Open Access, CC0
Drotops — Drotops armatus Struve, 1995 (NHMUK PI It 28964)
Drotops armatus Struve, 1995 (NHMUK PI It 28964) — © The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London, Natural History Museum (London) Data Portal, CC BY 4.0

Age

Formations

Elsewhere

Cite this article

Stratum Study. "Drotops" (Taxon). Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-19. https://stratum.black/study/taxa/drotops. Accessed 2026-09-20.

BibTeX · CSL-JSON

@misc{stratum-drotops,
  title        = {Drotops},
  author       = {{Stratum Study}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/study/taxa/drotops}},
  year         = {2026},
  note         = {Taxon article, Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-19; sources: stratum, pbdb, wikidata, commons, smithsonian, nhm. Accessed 2026-09-20.}
}

Citations carry the pack version and the article's as-of date so they resolve to the same text later. The facts themselves belong to the sources listed below; cite those for the science.