Undescribed (unnamed) Canadian Trilobite on matrix- Bull River, Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada

For a discerning trilobite or Canadian fossil collector, this is something special. Measuring approximately 2.1 × 1.5 cm, is a trilobite yet to be scientifically described and named. The trilobite (unknown genus) is preserved near the edge of a 10 × 9 cm slate plate. The fossil displays a rounded cephalon with pronounced genal spines, which continue continue down the thorax. The thoracic segments are closely spaced, with pale highlights outlining its structure against the dark matrix. The tail, or pygidium, is quite small. The specimen is mostly complete with only some missing ends of the thoracic ribs along one side near the tail.

This is a rare opportunity to collect and curate a fossil not yet formally described by paleontologists. Of course this trilobite needs a special home where its provenance will be properly preserved.

The specimen comes from Upper Cambrian sediments of the McKay Group in the Bull River Valley, east of Cranbrook and Fort Steele, British Columbia, Canada. 

British Columbia fossils are illegal to sell, except under special circumstances. I represent a team that has claims on several trilobite localities in BC that have been legally grandfathered into older legislation. This allows them to legally excavate, prepare and sell fossils from these particular claims, including this specimen. Learn more about British Columbia fossils and their legal status.

For those interested in learning more about the trilobites of the McKay Group I recommend the following scientific paper: Furongian (Upper Cambrian) trilobites from the McKay Group, Bull River Valley, near Cranbrook, southeastern British Columbia, Canada (2016) by Brian D. E. Chatterton and Stacey Gibb in Palaeontographica Canadiana No 35. It is jointly published by the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists (now known as the Canadian Energy Geoscience Association) and the Geological Association of Canada

Fossil: Trilobite
Species: Undescribed & Unnamed species (unknown genus)
Age: Upper Cambrian
Formation: McKay Group
Locality: Bull River valley, East of Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada
Dimensions: Trilobite: 2.1 × 1.5 cm; plate: 10 × 9 cm