genus of trilobites (an extinct group of aquatic arthropods) uncommonly found as fossils in Carboniferous and Permian rocks (359,000,000 to 251,000,000 years old) in Europe, North America, and the Far East. One of the last known trilobite genera, Phillipsia is characterized by a relatively large head region and a large posterior region. Some forms are characterized by an unusual development of small surface nodes.