Trilobites Mortality Plate from Burgess Shale


Name: Elrathina (= Ptychoparella) cordillerae (Rominger, 1887) (Canada Trilobites)

Class Trilobita, Trilobite Order Ptychopariida, Superfamily Ptychoparioidea; Family: Alokistocaridae

Geological Time: Middle Cambrian (about 505 Mya)

Size: 24 to 28 mm

Fossil Site: Walcott Quarry Shale Member, Burgess Shale, British Columbia, Canada


Elrathina Ptychoparella cordillerae TrilobitesThis trilobite mass mortality plate is from what is probably the most famous fossil site in the world, the Walcott Quarry of the Burgess Shale. While the formation is mainly known for exquisite soft-body preservation of animals of the Cambrian Explosion, it also has abundant trilobites, with well over 100 described spcies across the formation's many members. This plate contains three Elrathina cordillerae (now called Ptychoparella cordillerae), described by Rominger in the late 19th century. The Burgess Shale and nearby Stephen Formations outcrop mainly in Banff and Yoho National Parks in the Alberta-British Columbia border area. All known outcrops are in Canada's Rocky Mountain Parks, so collecting is strictly forbidden.

References for further reading

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