| Beecher's Trilobite Bed | |
|---|---|
| Stratigraphic range: Late Ordovician (Caradoc) | |
 A Triarthrus eatoni preserved alongside a partial crinoid arm. These fossils are preserved with pyrite, allowing for the presence of soft body parts. | |
| Type | Bed |
| Unit of | Frankfort Formation |
| Area | Small quarry only |
| Thickness | 3–4 cm (1.2–1.6 in) |
| Lithology | |
| Primary | Shale |
| Location | |
| Region | Oneida Co., New York |
| Country |  United States |
| Extent | Very limited |
| Type section | |
| Named for | Charles Emerson Beecher |
Beecher's Trilobite Bed is a Konservat-Lagerstätte of Late Ordovician (Caradoc) age located within the Frankfort Shale in Cleveland's Glen, Oneida County, New York, USA.[1][2] Only 3–4 centimeters thick, Beecher's Trilobite Bed has yielded numerous exceptionally preserved trilobites with the ventral anatomy and soft tissue intact, the soft tissue preserved by pyrite replacement.[2][3] Pyritisation allows the use of X-rays to study fine detail of preserved soft body parts still within the host rock.[4][5] Pyrite replacement of soft tissue is unusual in the fossil record;[6] the only Lagerstätten thought to show such preservation were Beecher's Trilobite Bed, the Devonian Hunsrück Slates of Germany, and the Jurassic beds of La Voulte-sur-Rhône in France,[7] although new locations are coming to light in New York state.[8]
- ^ Martha Buck's senior thesis on the Beecher's Trilobite Bed Archived 2008-07-06 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b Photos (and more) of trilobites from Beecher's Trilobite Bed from Yale Peabody Museum Archived 2008-10-07 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Butterfield, Nicholas J. (2003). "Exceptional Fossil Preservation and the Cambrian Explosion". Integrative and Comparative Biology. 43 (1): 166–177. doi:10.1093/icb/43.1.166. PMID 21680421.
- ^ Simon Conway Morris (1991). "In search of the lost fossil record" (PDF). Endeavour. New Series. 15 (4): 158–164. doi:10.1016/0160-9327(91)90121-Q.[permanent dead link]
- ^ X-ray images and 3D GIFs of preserved trilobite appendages by Amherst College Archived 2008-07-06 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Derek E.G. Briggs; Simon H. Bottrell; Robert Raiswell (1991). "Pyritization of soft-bodied fossils: Beecher's Trilobite Bed, Upper Ordovician, New York State". Geology. 19 (12): 1221–1224. Bibcode:1991Geo....19.1221B. doi:10.1130/0091-7613(1991)019<1221:POSBFB>2.3.CO;2.
- ^ Paul A. Selden; John R. Nudds (2005). Evolution of Fossil Ecosystems (PDF). University of Chicago Press, IL. p. 192. ISBN 978-0-226-74641-8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-14.
see page 41
- ^ Farrell, Úna C.; Briggs, Derek E. G. (2008). "Pyritized olenid trilobite faunas of upstate NY: palaeoecology and taphonomy (abstract)" (PDF). Palaeontological Association Programme with Abstracts. 52: 23. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-02-15.