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Partial Trilobite Fossil Found


DLowe69

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Hi - this is my first post to this group.  I found this partial trilobite fossil this past summer in Ordovician limestone near Eganville, Ontario, Canada and I am hoping that someone here can help me identify the trilobite species it belongs to.  This piece measures 3.5 inches in length by a little over 2.5 inches wide and I believe it is the pygidium and most of the thorax (so a little more than half of the full trilobite).  Also, it has a little over 1/2 inch in depth, so it is not completely crushed flat.

 

I would have much rather found a full trilobite - and I do have a full trilobite that I found that I am having prepped, that I will post at a later date - but I am very happy with the size and condition of this sample.  I broke it out of the rock in this condition - no prepping has been done to this sample. 

 

Any thoughts?

trilobite tail - ruler.jpg

trilobite tail - down.jpg

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This is an Isotelus.  There are several species in the area but Isotelus gigas is the best fit I think.  Nice find!  I assume the quarry at Eganville is still allowing collectors in, or at least clubs?

 

Don

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I actually found this on a friend's private property, near the river, so I am not sure which quarry you are speaking of.  If there is a quarry in the area that allows collectors / clubs, I would certainly be interested...

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I think the club @Northern Sharks belongs to has collected there in the past.  The quarry is on the same road as the Bonnechere Caves.  The articles I read about club trips are a few years old and I don't know the current state of affairs.

 

Also the little museum in Eganville arranges collecting trips for a nominal cost in the summer.

 

Don

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Thanks for the info Don.  I think most of the club visits in the area were cancelled this year due to Covid.  From what I understand, there are many former small quarries in the area (of various types), so I am going to enlist relatives in the area to see if they know anyone with such a property (as I mainly collect minerals).  I suspect any private deposits would be much less searched, but that is just an assumption on my part.

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There are also area outcrops around Clear Lake but I don't know exactly where as I haven't collected there.

 

Don

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I haven't personally collected there, but the Ottawa club may have organized trips there in the past. As you mentioned, this year has been a complete write-off for organized trips. I would certainly consider making the trip there if I knew what could be found, the typical preservation and the frequency of finds. I got spoiled living so close to Lake Simcoe that I never felt the need to drive 4+ hours to hunt in the same formations, but it's been a couple of years since anywhere close to home has allowed collectors in.

There's no limit to what you can accomplish when you're supposed to be doing something else

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Thanks Sharks.  I have found a few other small fossils in the area as well, although I am not sure what they are.  I have only been out searching a few times, so the frequency of finds is decent, even if the finds themselves aren't huge.  That said, I DO have a larger Isotelus that I am having prepared now, and once that is done I will post pics here.  For now, I have posted pics of some of my other finds - again, on private property but I am sure that the finds are similar at other sites in the Eganville area, as you mentioned.

fish-like fossil.jpg

full sponge fossil.jpg

ribbed fossil.jpg

snake-like fossil.jpg

sea bed shells fossil.jpg

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Looking at it again, what I thought looked like a fish-like fossil MAY be another trilobite, although from the side...  Thoughts?

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There are no fish to be found in that formation. That is also a broken trilobite

 

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