Choice Palaeocaris typus Mazon Creek Shrimp Fossil

Description: Palaeocaris typus is one of the rare finds from the Mazon Creek Lagerstatte. This positive/negative specimen is premium collector grade. This is a lateral view of the shrimp, showing excellent preservation of the antenna, legs, body and tail. It was discovered in an ironstone nodule.

Palaeocaris typus was a small aquatic arthropod. It would have looked and lived like a small shrimp. It belongs to a group called syncarids. Some of its modern relatives include isopods and amphipods. This animal was originally described from Mazon Creek in 1865.

The Mazon Creek deposits of the region near Braidwood, Illinois rival the other famous Lagerstatten of the Burgess Shale, Solnhofen, and Liaoning for the variety of detailed life preserved. Many exquisitely preserved specimens are found in the ironstone nodules that make up the Mazon Creek Lagerstatte. The majority of collecting areas are the spoil heaps of abandoned coalmines.