Emeraldella
sp Phylum
Arthropoda (Basal), Superclass
Lamellipedia (sensu Hou & Bergström, 1997 - (Trilobitomorpha),
Emeraldellidae
Geological
Time: Early Middle Cambrian, (~525 million years ago)
Size: Fossil
is 15 mm long
Fossil
Site: Comet Shale Member, Pioche Formation, Lincoln County, Nevada
|  Description:
This unusual specimen has trilobitomorph features, and has as yet
not been described in the literature. It is thought to have affinities
with the Burgess Shale genus Emeraldella, and is quite detailed,
 preserved
here in dorsolateral aspect. Notice that the pointed telson is present.
It comes from the Comet Shale Member of the Pioche Formation of
Nevada. This deposit spans the transition of Early to Middle Cambrian
which saw the extinction of the Olenellid trilobites. It is just
younger than the comparable material from the Chengjiana Biota of
Yunnan Province, China and just older than the Burgess Shale Fauna
of British Columbia, Canada. The specimens are often somewhat faint,
as here.
Hou
& Bergström, 1997: Arthropods of the Lower Cambrian Chengjiang
fauna, southwest China. --Fossils & Strata, Number 45, 22nd
December 1997, pp. 1-116
Briggs D.E.G., and R.A. Robison. 1984. Exceptionally preserved non
trilobite arthropods and Anomalocaris from the Middle Cambrian of
Utah. University of Kansas Paleontological Contributions, Paper
111:1-24.
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