Rare 1.65" Olenellus Trilobite From Rome Shale - Alabama
Here is a trilobite that only a very few of the most serious trilobite collectors have seen, a complete Olenellus from the Rome Formation in Alabama. It measures 1.65" in length including the terminal axial spine. There is a repaired crack running through the rock and the trilobite. The opistothorax is visible, a feature not often preserved.
Prior to this spring only a few complete, Lower Cambrian trilobites had ever been collected from the Rome Formation in Alabama. The formation is poorly exposed and weathers very rapidly: therefore, complete trilobites are rare.
We took part in an exploratory excavation this spring that involved leasing a property and bringing in an excavator to remove vegetation and about two meters of clay and weathered rock to reach the formation. It took about a week of digging before a trilobite-bearing layer was identified, but it became very difficult to follow since the formation is heavily faulted every few feet.
Only about a dozen complete trilobites were found between several collectors over the next month of digging. A small number of these that did not go into our own collections are being offered for sale here on FossilEra.
We took part in an exploratory excavation this spring that involved leasing a property and bringing in an excavator to remove vegetation and about two meters of clay and weathered rock to reach the formation. It took about a week of digging before a trilobite-bearing layer was identified, but it became very difficult to follow since the formation is heavily faulted every few feet.
Only about a dozen complete trilobites were found between several collectors over the next month of digging. A small number of these that did not go into our own collections are being offered for sale here on FossilEra.
SPECIES
Olenellus sp.
AGE
LOCATION
Shelby County, Alabama
FORMATION
Rome Shale
SIZE
1.65" long (including spine), Rock 2.8 x 1.7"
CATEGORY
ITEM
#181842
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