Although they’ve been extinct for about 252 million years, trilobites still manage to fascinate us today. These fossil arthropods were among the first animals to appear in large numbers, and they lived for almost 300 million years before going extinct. Assistant Curator Melanie Hopkins explains where these diverse creatures fit into the fossil record across the globe, delves into her research on trilobite growth patterns, and discusses the amazing diversity of their shapes. This SciCafe took place at the Museum on February 7, 2018. Watch a video version of this SciCafe on the Museum's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IMk__N-O-4 Read a full transcript of this podcast here: https://www.amnh.org/explore/news-blogs/podcasts/scicafe-trilobite-takedown Subscribe to the Science@AMNH Podcast on iTunes, Soundcloud, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Scicafe Series is proudly sponsored by Judy and Josh Weston. This program is made possible by OceanX, an initiative of the Dalio Foundation, as part of its generous support of the special exhibition Unseen Oceans and its related educational activities and public programs.