trilobiteruss Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 (edited) Well new to my collection in past few months are these special Austrailian trilobites from the lower Cambrian Emu Bay Formation on Kangaroo Island. Now a closed world heritage site or the like. Specimens like mine had to have a special export letter from the Australian government that they were legal for me to purchase and i have copies of the letters (they were collected pre restriction and all something a number of countries are going to it seems). I will post separate messages here on each bug. I have been trying to fill in my Cambrians from SE Asia and Austrailia, these were from a good friend who lives near the area and is a major Australian collector. He had a few extras to spare in his collection so I was very fortunate t acquire these nice bugs. russ Edited July 11, 2013 by trilobiteruss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trilobiteruss Posted July 11, 2013 Author Share Posted July 11, 2013 Estaingia bilobata Low Estaingia er Cambrian,Emu Bay Shale Formation Emu Bay,Kangaroo Island, Australia This is a lovely multi-plate. It is quite rare to have so many complete ones in one small gathering. The plate measures 160mm x 100mm. The largest trilobite is 20mm down to the smallest of 6mm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trilobiteruss Posted July 11, 2013 Author Share Posted July 11, 2013 (edited) These next two were especially the trilobites I was hoping to acquire, a special little trilobite with an unusually long opistothorax on them. Quire odd and beautiful!!! Balcoracania daily. Lower Cambrian,Emu Bay Shale Formation Emu Bay,Kangaroo Island, Australia The plate measures 70mm x 20mm and the trilobite is 7mm Edited July 11, 2013 by trilobiteruss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trilobiteruss Posted July 11, 2013 Author Share Posted July 11, 2013 Balcoracania daily. Lower Cambrian,Emu Bay Shale Formation Emu Bay,Kangaroo Island, Australia this is quite a large one for this species, measuring 15mm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trilobiteruss Posted July 11, 2013 Author Share Posted July 11, 2013 (edited) Redlichia takooensis Big Gully Formation, Emu Bay Shales. Lower Cambrian Kangaroo Island, South Australia The trilobite measures 63mm long on a 83 x 75mm plate. The trilobite has good detail. The right genal spine is slightly worn in the mid-section, but everything else is very good. Edited July 11, 2013 by trilobiteruss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 These next two were especially the trilobites I was hoping to acquire, a special little trilobite with an unusually long opistothorax on them. Quire odd and beautiful!!! Balcoracania daily. Lower Cambrian,Emu Bay Shale Formation Emu Bay,Kangaroo Island, Australia The plate measures 70mm x 20mm and the trilobite is 7mm 1.jpg 2.jpg Even I can see that these are very different, and therefore very special! Congratulations! "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranha Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 Quite special indeed as Balcoracania dailyi possesses up to 103 thoracic segments, the maximum number recorded in any trilobite! Congrats on all the fantastic recent additions to your collection! Paterson, J.R., & Edgecombe, G.D. (2006) The Early Cambrian trilobite family Emuellidae Pocock, 1970: systematic position and revision of Australian species. Journal of Paleontology 80(3):496-513 OPEN ACCESS PDF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nothos Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 I'm absolutely not specialist in Trilos but your specimens are so beautifull ! I could fall in love ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trilobiteruss Posted July 11, 2013 Author Share Posted July 11, 2013 Maybe you will have to expand out of the Triassic and Permian, but there are Permian trilobites you know! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Down under fossil hunter Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 Great collection of Aussie Trilo's, you are very lucky to have them in your collection. Even here in Australia they are not often available. Almost everyone I have seen is in a museum collection. Nice acquisition! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 Obviously it helps to have connections! (and money...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trilobiteruss Posted July 12, 2013 Author Share Posted July 12, 2013 While money helps, do not have a ton, but the connections are what helps. As my trilobite collection grows I find more contacts, or contacts who put me in contact with contacts The connections are what are really important for specimens, fellow trilobitophiles who have extras to spare for purchase or trade.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilcrazy Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 I love those Aussey bugs Russ. I remember a collector Dave S. who was selling them long ago. They were always too rich for me to buy. The past few years a Spanish researcher I knew from the Burgess Shale in Yoho, has been doing some research at Emu Bay, Kangaroo Island. Here is a podcast interview of the remarkable area: http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/2347748.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilcrazy Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 In August 18th 2009, this part and counterpart of Balcoracania dailyi multiple went for $154 USD. Should have bought then. Little did I know things would get more expensive and then near impossible to obtain. What they say about hindsight is true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trilobiteruss Posted July 13, 2013 Author Share Posted July 13, 2013 A lot of bugs went that way. Western US Cambrian bugs used to be alot less pricey, then they went up, especially rare ones, ones from sites you cannot collect (like these) any longer. russ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trilobiteruss Posted July 13, 2013 Author Share Posted July 13, 2013 I love those Aussey bugs Russ. I remember a collector Dave S. who was selling them long ago. They were always too rich for me to buy. The past few years a Spanish researcher I knew from the Burgess Shale in Yoho, has been doing some research at Emu Bay, Kangaroo Island. Here is a podcast interview of the remarkable area: http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/2347748.htm Cool video nice to see some videos and such from there. Interesting place. I know Dave well he has been a primary source of specimens in past for that site. He collected there before it was protected (knows alot of these folks) and has a web page on the net. His specimens therefore were legal to sell when he was selling them. Most of the material is now gone, he just has items he is keeping in his collection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trilobiteruss Posted July 13, 2013 Author Share Posted July 13, 2013 In August 18th 2009, this part and counterpart of Balcoracania dailyi multiple went for $154 USD. Balcoracania dailyi 1.jpg Should have bought then. Little did I know things would get more expensive and then near impossible to obtain. What they say about hindsight is true. One just sold on ebay recently but a bit more pricey than that. (not mine did not get them on ebay) russ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted July 15, 2013 Share Posted July 15, 2013 OK, it helps to have connections, money and/or be old enough to have been in it when the getting was good (legal)! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trilobiteruss Posted August 10, 2013 Author Share Posted August 10, 2013 (edited) Well I managed to get a significantly rarer relative of the Balcoracania dailyi to add to my collection, about 1 meter below the classic Balcoracania dailyi site one used to find an earlier Emuellidae family member: Emuella polymera From Dave Simpson's website more on this interesting relative of Balcoracania: http://info.esc.net.au/~dasimpson/Emuella_Polymera.htm EMUELLA POLYMERA Derivation of name: Emuella - from Emu Bay, Kangaroo Island, South Australia. Polymera - for numerous thoracic segments. E. polymera is distinguished from B. dailyi in having a shorter palpebral lobe and slightly different facial sutures. The overall cranidium is slightly shorter with long genal spines. The thorax in E. polymera; the axis is wider than in B. dailyi, being more than half thoracic width, almost parallel sided to the fourth segment then tapers evenly to posterior, moderately to gentle convex, axial furrows distinct. Pleurae very short with pleural spines. Pleural furrow terminates before pleural spines. (In B. dailyi pleural furrow terminates at base of pleural spines) The thorax can have 48 and known maximum of 58 segments. (B. dailyi thorax can have 53 -61 segments) Also nice link on wickepedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emuella EmuellaFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaEmuellaTemporal range: 517Malate BotomianPhylum: ArthropodaClass: TrilobitaOrder: RedlichiidaSuborder: RedlichiinaSuperfamily: EmuelloideaFamily: EmuellidaeGenus: EmuellaPocock, 1970Species • Emuella polymera Pocock, 1970[1] • Emuella dalgarnoi Pocock, 1970[1] Emuella is a genus of trilobites of the family Emuellidae. Its fossils have been found in South-Australia. It can be recognised by touching glabella and frontal border, and the sub-pentagonal head, as compared to, a short field between the front of the axis in the head or glabella and the border ridge, and a semi-circular headsheald in the sister-genusBalcoracania. Both emuellid genera share eye ridges that are positioned parallel to the frontal and lateral border of the head, prominent genal spines that are a smooth continuation of the lateral margin of the head, a prothorax of 6 segments, with the 5th and 6th merged and carrying large trailing spines. Both genera have in adulthood a highly variable but large number of segments of the opistothorax, although the largest number found in B. dailyi with 97 is much larger than in Emuella (52).[1]EtymologyThe genus name means "little emu", and refers to Emu Bay, on Kangaroo Island, one of the sites where fossils of Emuella have been collected. The species epithet polymera is derived from Greek words πολύ -poly- meaning "many"; and μέρος -meros- meaning "part", for the many segmented thorax. E. dalgarnoi is named after R.C. Dalgarno, who discovered Balcoracania dailyi in the Flinders Ranges, near Blinman, South Australia.[2] Finally a few comments from the collector of these specimens (my source as someone surmized) "These aren't coming out of the deposit anymore. I haven't managed to collect one for years. They're found approximately 1mtr underneath the beds containing B.dailyi, and they are never found together. I suspect E.polymera is ancestral to B.dailyi but this is impossible to prove. The easiest way to tell them apart is the axial widths. E.polymera's central axial width is quite wide in comparison to B.dailyi which has the 3axial widths of equivalent sizes. You will note in E.polymera that the central width is quite a bit larger than the ones on the side, and the cephalon is quite notably different. Unless a new deposit is found, which is very unlikely, these will be impossible to obtain. " Here are the three specimens I am fortunate to have acquired: First: Emuella polymera Lower Cambrian,Emu Bay Shale Formation Emu Bay,Kangaroo Island, Australia Specimen 16mm long. It has been repaired, but it is sound. This is quite a large specimen and has the best detail Second: Emuella polymera Lower Cambrian,Emu Bay Shale Formation Emu Bay,Kangaroo Island, Australia Specimen is 9mm long, part and counterpart Third: Emuella polymera Lower Cambrian,Emu Bay Shale Formation Emu Bay,Kangaroo Island, Australia Specimen is 10mm long Edited August 10, 2013 by trilobiteruss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDudeCO Posted August 11, 2013 Share Posted August 11, 2013 wow, those are some gorgeous trilos, would be a great addition to any collection! Kudos! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
izak_ Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 Four words, a lot of information! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 ...and no pics any more, apparently Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 The topic starter has removed all his contributed images. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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