RARE Undescribed Emeraldella with Preserved Soft Tissue

Description: This unusual specimen has trilobitomorph features, and has as yet not been described in the literature. It is thought to have affinities with the Burgess Shale genus Emeraldella, and is quite detailed, preserved here in dorsolateral aspect. Notice that the pointed telson is present. It comes from the Comet Shale Member of the Pioche Formation of Nevada. This deposit spans the transition of Early to Middle Cambrian which saw the extinction of the Olenellid trilobites. It is just younger than the comparable material from the Chengjiana Biota of Yunnan Province, China and just older than the Burgess Shale Fauna of British Columbia, Canada. The specimens are often somewhat faint, as here. The specimen has been water wet to heighten contrast in the last photographs. Regardless, this is a rare specimen, little seen outside of an academic collection. Most of the outcrops are on BLM land which is not available for collecting. This material however comes from a ranch on private land.

Reference: A New Soft-bodied Fauna: The Pioche Formation of Nevada, Bruce S. Lieberman, Journal of Paleontology, Jul 2003.