Walcott-Rust Quarry Trilobites Association

Description: The Walcott-Rust Quarry was discovered in 1870 by Charles Doolitte Walcott of Burgess Shale fame and William Palmer Rust. Many well-preserved trilobites were found there and both Walcott and Rust sold them to collectors and institutions. It is Walcott’s association with Louis Agassiz of Harvard University that encouraged him to pursue a career in academic rather than commercial paleontology. The site was subsequently forgotten, only to be reworked by Tom Whiteley starting in 1990. Many excellently preserved specimens have been recovered from this site which is known as an obrution Lagerstatt, signifying a site in which the specimens were rapidly buried. The larger specimen here is Achatella achates, a less-frequently seen member of the fauna. It is known from Trenton-age deposits of Quecbec, Ontario, Illinois, Missouri, and New York, with most from New York coming from the Rust Formation. While there is some erosion to the posterior it is still a good example of the taxon. The smaller specimen is known as Ceraurus pleurexanthemus. It is thought that the many spines may have acted much like snowshoes, keeping the trilobite at the surface of the muddy bottom. The matrix has a flattened base for easy self-display of this fine association plaque.

Reference: Journal of Paleontology, No 73, Vol 2 March 1999, pp 288-305