Trilobite (Orygmaspis Mckellari) - Bull River valley, Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada

This specimen features a large (5 x 3.5 cm) trilobite, Orygmaspis Mckellari, preserved on an elongated, fossil-bearing plate. The articulated body displays clearly defined thoracic segments and a broad, rounded tail shield. As with many trilobites from this locality, it has been preserved as a calcite wafer, which partially projects out from the side of the matrix slab. A smaller, partially exposed trilobite is visible farther along the plate.

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. Mostly, they collect for themselves and only sell specimens to fund their collecting expenses. They simply love fossils and field collecting. Additionally, they have done a terrific job allowing the scientific community and local fossil clubs and school groups onto their claims for research, collecting and education. In my opinion, they are going above and beyond any legal requirements. As the Star Wars character The Mandalorian says, this is the way. 

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: Orygmaspis Mckellari
Age: Upper Cambrian
Formation: McKay Group
Locality: Bull River Valley, east of Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada
Dimensions: Trilobite: 5 × 3.5 cm; plate: 28 × 5 cm