Book review: The Trilobite Collector’s Guide, by Andy Secher
Jon Trevelyan (UK)
It’s that time of year again, with Christmas hurrying upon us, that our thoughts turn to presents for that fossil-loving friend, relative, and certainly the reader him or herself. And what better than a sumptuously illustrated coffee table book, with forwards by some high class palaeontologists, namely, the good and the great Richard Fortey and NHM aficionado, Melanie Hopkins? Well, this is it – look no further.
Secher is the author of Travels with Trilobites: Adventures in the Paleozoic, which I reviewed a short while ago. I thought that book was extremely good, but this is an order of magnitude even better. OK – as I implied, it has all the hallmarks of a coffee table book (and there’s nothing wrong with that), but the pictures are glorious – as good as I have seen. But at the same time, it covers some fascinating things about these extraordinary, extinct creatures.
As the text on the cover states:
For more than 250 million years, the primeval oceans of the Paleozoic teemed with trilobites. These hardy invertebrates evolved into an astonishing array of separate species – more than 25,000 at last count – and much remains unknown about these once-ubiquitous creatures. Fossil enthusiasts are captivated by trilobites’ diversity and adaptability, enthralled by the possibility of catching a glimpse of a transcendentally strange.”
So true – certainly for me.
It is worth noting at the outset, the book is not in any way presented in an academic style or as an academic. Rather it provides an eclectic range of relevant and interesting topics to dip in and out of in the author’s “top ten” lists. To take as examples some the chapters that especially caught my attention, the chapter entitled “10 Essential Figures in Trilobite History” covers Joachim Barrande, Sir Roderick Murchison, James Hall, Louis Agassiz, Charles Darwin, Harry Whittington, Stephen Jay Gould, Richard Fortey and Niles Eldredge, with short biopics of all these usual suspects.
The chapter entitled, “10 Creatures That Came Before Trilobites” reminds readers that, while trilobites seemed to appear fully formed in the fossil record, they must have had evolutionary antecedents. Notwithstanding the paucity of the fossil record in this respect, Secher discusses several organisms that provide at least some insight into trilobite history and morphology. And these include soft-bodied trilobites that also have a chapter to themselves (“10 Significant Soft-Tissue Trilobites”, which also covers the soft tissue preservation of trilobite parts from later times than the early Cambrian).
And in the chapters entitled, “10 Precariously Predated Trilobites” and “10 Tales Told by Trilobites”, the author discusses how the fossils tell interesting stories related to their behaviours and lifestyles. This includes being predated on in a clearly dangerous world, and such things as defensive postures and fossilised eggs.
And, inevitably (and necessarily), there’s a glossary of trilobite terminology.
The book has about 350 colour photographs of fully preserved specimens, and these are the basis of why it’s so good. However, it is also written in a very accessible, engaging and informative style. In fact, the author’s light-hearted style and the trilobite fossils, facts, and features that he presents, as one reviewer wrote, is “a popular ‘hit parade’ of trilobite facts, figures, and phenomena”.
And he combines current scientific knowledge with practical information on how to collect trilobites, how to prepare them, where to find them, and so much more.
Finally, it is worth quoting directly from Niles Eldredge’s review of the book:
Wow! I’ve never before seen so many amazing trilobites between the covers of a single book as I have in Andy Secher’s new extravaganza … Secher is one of the premier trilobite collectors of the world, and he can tell you everything about what it takes to find, collect, ‘prepare, ‘ and study trilobites. His photos are amazing. Trilobites are amazing. Be prepared to be dazzled and amazed!”
Given Eldredge’s reputation in the pantheon of greats (he is currently curator emeritus, Division of Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History), this is praise indeed. Together with Travels with Trilobites: Adventures in the Paleozoic, I suspect these two volumes will serve as the granite bookends to those other trilobite books on palaeontologists’ bookshelves.
About the author. Andy Secher is one of the world’s foremost trilobite collectors and is a field associate in palaeontology at the American Museum of Natural History. He is also co-editor of the museum’s Trilobite Website. He has been a field associate in palaeontology at the American Museum of Natural History for more than two decades.
He also curates one of the world’s largest private trilobite collections and, apparently, his private collection comprises more than 4,000 trilobite fossils. As I said when I reviewed that other book of his – “I’m jealous”.
The Trilobite Collector’s Guide, by Andy Secher, Columbia University Press, New York (2024), hardback (472 pages), ISBN: 978-0-231213806