Rare 1.65" Olenellus Trilobite From Rome Shale - Alabama

Rare Olenellus Trilobite From Rome Shale - Alabama #181842

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.

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