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I passed by Quincy today, and I had some time to go there for a bit. Nothing spectacular was found (as usual), but I managed to get some better fragments. I hope there’s still a chance for complete material. I was also planning to check out some other localities, but didn’t have time. Here are the finds, from the wonderful grey day. The leaves were wet, though, and won’t move until probably summer. A bit of hash, two thoracic segments of different sizes, and a cephalic brim of a Paradoxides harlani. Pretty compared to the usual unidentifiable fragments. A very badly eroded ventral cephalon, though you can barely make out the cephalic doublure. Something unusual to change it up, a brachiopod. Very probably an Acrothele gamagei. Wetted for contrast. Two okay partial cranidiums of P. harlani. I was lucky to find the second one, as someone else hammered it on the other side, perpendicular to the bedding. Here’s a nice partial thorax of some small ptychopariid, it’s probably a Skehanos. Wetted for contrast. Lastly, here’s a partial Paradoxides thorax pushed up against a librigena. Unusual to find them in the cherty rocks, because the rock usually splits through the trilobite instead of along it. Not exactly a great specimen, but it is what it is.

Before the construction of the Fore River Shipyard in Braintree and Quincy, a bit of the Braintree Argillite was dumped in Quincy. I have rediscovered the site of the spoil piles which are briefly mentioned in a paper about the MA trilobites. I got a few minutes of collecting before the rain got too heavy and I had to leave. The trilobites are found in a fine grained, weakly bedded light argillite that oxidises and forms an orange coating when weathered. I found some larger Paradoxides fragments in a darker argillite with a slightly larger grain size. This argillite weathers first to a blotchy dark grey, then orange spots of what look like limonite form on the surface. Trilobites are also found in an almost chert-like massive argillite that contain dark things which look like trilobite shell but are some sort of mineral. All contain vugs of calcite and pyrite. The finds. Paradoxides harlani left genal and small glabella. Left pleura, And a poorly preserved cranidium on the back. An even more poorly preserved cranidium. Believe it or not, even more badly preserved. Very partial imprint. Still more badly preserved. Large cranidium taken under dramatic lighting. A very effaced bunch of thoracic segments. Negative but still with some shell. Taken under dramatic lighting. And last, a very unusually rectangular cranidium, with a ”Agraulos” quadrangularis on the left of it. Notice the very robust occipital spine on the unidentified. Any ideas? Thanks to @piranha for the papers.

This morning, I decided to split some of my scrap material from the Quincy site where I have posted about a few times. At first, this piece split badly, but I decided to split it further, and a small piece of limonite stained shell revealed itself. I split it further, and this beauty popped out. Right now it doesn’t look very nice, but I was able to recover most of the shell. After some prep (which I am fully unable to do and would probably cost way more than the specimen), it would look a bit better than it does now. The anterior glabellar lobe is somewhat crushed, revealing what may be the outline of the hypostome. My hopes are certainly raised for what can turn up in this site in future.

I visited the Quincy spot again, still with meagre finds but some were half-decent. I of course found some more disarticulated thoracic segments but they’re not worth posting, I found too many. Agraulid bits? The cranidium is probably a very badly preserved Skehanos quadrangularis. Some Paradoxides harlani bits, the cheek is weird because the genal spine is somewhat stubby. A very nice cranidium, and a nice size too, ~11 cm between the palpebral lobes, 7 cm from the anterior border to the occipital lobe. A pretty large section of thorax, with seven lobes. A little buddy. It was nice, but the rocks are very fragmented so there is almost no chance for a complete specimen.

Today I went back to the spoil piles at Quincy, with some better luck, and weather. I brought bug spray, which helped very much. I’m afraid this gives away too much about the site, but it was a very nice view. A picture of the site. The leaves were quite annoying. Some slickensides and a vug of pyrite which I did not keep, but were cool. On to the finds. I started out in the first few minutes with a lovely Paradoxides harlani left cheek. The rock is not tiny. Some fragments of pleurae. Some hypostomes, showing excellent “terrace lines”. A cephalic doublure, with half of a hypostome. Another more complete doublure. The cephalon might be there, but chances are slim. Some fragments of Skehanos quadrangularis. A cranidium and a heartbreaker thorax fragment. I wish that I had got there sooner, it would have been an awesome bug. A very badly preserved external mould of a Condylopyge eli. Still another species from this site, so I can’t complain. Now for the better finds of this trip. A really nice section of thorax, considering how fragmented this rock is. Four segments, it’s really the best one can expect from here. Not too shabby in terms of size, either. A really nice cephalon, if it were the positive. This one was really a shame, nicely sized too. And lastly, a decently preserved partial cranidium! Nice size, shell, definition, and… …there is a partial brachiopod on the side! I don’t think brachiopods have ever been recorded, or at least discussed from here. Something I never thought I would have found. Overall it was quite fun, I found some better material, and I will definitely return.

Hi Everyone, Over the summer I went searching for remnants of the elusive Cambrian trilobites from Massachuetts. The quarry these came from was destroyed back in the 1940s and new material is largely non-existant, but I may have found a Paradoxides cephalon. The tricky part being that when I split the piece of argillite, portions of the fossil were split between the two halves of the rock and the fossil could benefit from some prep work in general to make it more apparent. I lack both the prep skills and tools to take this one on and am wondering if anyone would be willing to glue the halves together and prep this mystery fossil out for me! I'd of course pay the going hourly rate for such work. Here's a link to the topic sbout IDing this mystery fossil and some pictures of the two halves of rock. While I had been talking with curator of invert paleontology over at Harvard about IDing this one, we aren't 100% sure it's a Paradoxides cephalon without the fossil being cleaned/preped, but are definitely leaning that way. Although not a complete specimen and one that will likely cost more to prep than it's worth, if it is a piece of these elusive trilobites it would be quite sentimental to me . Thanks for taking a look! Best, Barret

CBC News: Trilobite fossil gifted back to Manuels River, decades after its discovery: LINK

Hello guys, any thoughts about the best match of this Paradoxides type one, not from Tinjdad but from a cambrian area near Zagora? Thanks in advance, Miguel

A very large Trilobite I picked up for cheap. I was told it was an Andalusian Trilobite which seems to be an outdated term. I was assured it was not restored due to being a flatter type of trilobite (even I know better than that) Also told it is from Morroco. I bought it because even if it is half restored I am happy with the price. As far as I can figure out it would be a Paradoxide but on closer inspection I am concerned there is a lot of plaster like material, unsure if these fossils look like that normally... Looking for any input

Just saw this up for sale on OFAS for $16,200. It does not appear to be overtly fake. I will gladly accept one of these as a gift if anyone is feeling generous.... ---Prem