Beecher's Trilobite Bed
{{Short description|Paleontological site in New York, United States}}
{{Infobox rockunit
| name = Beecher's Trilobite Bed
| type = Bed
| age = Late Ordovician (Caradoc)
{{fossil range|445}}
| period = Late Ordovician
| prilithology = Shale
| otherlithology =
| namedfor = Charles Emerson Beecher
| namedby =
| region = Oneida Co., New York
| country = United States
| unitof = Frankfort Formation
| subunits =
| thickness = {{convert|3|-|4|cm|in|abbr=on}}
| extent = Very limited
| area = Small quarry only
|image=Triarthrus and crinoid fossil.jpg|caption=A Triarthrus eatoni preserved alongside a partial crinoid arm. These fossils are preserved with pyrite, allowing for the presence of soft body parts.}}
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.[http://www3.amherst.edu/~jwhagadorn/theses/martha/ Martha Buck's senior thesis on the Beecher's Trilobite Bed] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080706145036/http://www.amherst.edu/~jwhagadorn/theses/martha/ |date=2008-07-06 }}[http://www.yale.edu/ypmip/locations/beechers/ Photos (and more) of trilobites from Beecher's Trilobite Bed from Yale Peabody Museum] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081007110016/http://www.yale.edu/ypmip/locations/beechers/ |date=2008-10-07 }} 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.{{cite journal
| title = Exceptional Fossil Preservation and the Cambrian Explosion
| year = 2003
| journal = Integrative and Comparative Biology
| volume = 43
| issue = 1
| pages = 166–177
| doi = 10.1093/icb/43.1.166
| author = Butterfield, Nicholas J.
| pmid=21680421
| doi-access = free
}} Pyritisation allows the use of X-rays to study fine detail of preserved soft body parts still within the host rock.{{cite journal
|title=In search of the lost fossil record
|year=1991
|journal=Endeavour |series=New Series
|volume=15
|issue=4
|pages=158–164
|url=http://spamsights.org/cambrian/science_papers/The%20search%20for%20lost%20fossils%201991%20SCM.pdf
|author=Simon Conway Morris
|doi=10.1016/0160-9327(91)90121-Q
}}{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}[http://www3.amherst.edu/~jwhagadorn/research/beechers.html X-ray images and 3D GIFs of preserved trilobite appendages by Amherst College] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080706031322/http://www.amherst.edu/~jwhagadorn/research/beechers.html |date=2008-07-06 }} Pyrite replacement of soft tissue is unusual in the fossil
record;{{cite journal
| title = Pyritization of soft-bodied fossils: Beecher's Trilobite Bed, Upper Ordovician, New York State
| year = 1991
| journal = Geology
| volume = 19
| issue = 12
| pages = 1221–1224
| doi = 10.1130/0091-7613(1991)019<1221:POSBFB>2.3.CO;2
| author1 = Derek E.G. Briggs
| author2 = Simon H. Bottrell
| author3 = Robert Raiswell|bibcode = 1991Geo....19.1221B }} 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,{{Cite book
|author1=Paul A. Selden
|author2=John R. Nudds
|title=Evolution of Fossil Ecosystems
|pages=192
|quote=see page 41
|publisher=University of Chicago Press, IL
|year=2005
|isbn=978-0-226-74641-8
|url=http://www.mansonpublishing.com/sample/selden_evolution_sample.pdf
|url-status=dead
|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714030045/http://www.mansonpublishing.com/sample/selden_evolution_sample.pdf
|archivedate=2011-07-14
}} although new locations are coming to light in New York state.{{cite journal
|title = Pyritized olenid trilobite faunas of upstate NY: palaeoecology and taphonomy (abstract)
|author1 = Farrell, Úna C.
|author2 = Briggs, Derek E. G.
|journal = Palaeontological Association Programme with Abstracts
|volume = 52
|page = 23
|year = 2008
|url = http://downloads.palass.org/annual_meeting/2008/Glasgow2008abstracts.pdf
|url-status = dead
|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20100215152704/http://downloads.palass.org/annual_meeting/2008/Glasgow2008abstracts.pdf
|archivedate = 2010-02-15
}}
History of research
File:Parry et al. 2024 sf01.png arthropod Lomankus edgecombei]]
Originally discovered in 1892 by William S. Valiant, the site was thoroughly excavated from 1893 to 1895 by Charles Emerson Beecher (after whom the location is named) of Yale University, after which time the location was thought to be exhausted of fossils and excavations ceased.{{Cite book
| last1 = Etter
| first1= Walter
| contribution= Beecher's Trilobite Bed: Ordovician Pyritization for the Other Half of the Trilobite
| editor-last=David J. Bottjer |editor2=Walter Etter |editor3=James W. Hagadorn |editor4=Carol M. Tang
| title = Exceptional Fossil Preservation: A Unique View on the Evolution of Marine Life.
| pages = 131–142
| publisher= Columbia University Press, NY
| year=2002
| contribution-url= https://www.questia.com/read/100824422?title=7%3A+Beecher%27s+Trilobite+Bed%3A+Ordovician+Pyritization+for+the+Other+Half+of+the+Trilobite}}
Beecher published three papers describing a trilobite larval form,{{cite journal
| title = A larval form of Triarthrus
| year = 1893a
| journal = American Journal of Science
| volume = 46
| pages = 361–362
| author = Beecher, C.E.| issue = 275
| doi = 10.2475/ajs.s3-46.275.378
| bibcode = 1893AmJS...46..378B
| s2cid = 131502904
| url = https://zenodo.org/record/1695478
}}
trilobite limbs{{cite journal
| title = On the thoracic legs of Triarthrus
| year = 1893b
| journal = American Journal of Science
| volume = 46
| issue = 276
| pages = 467–470
| author = Beecher, C.E.| doi = 10.2475/ajs.s3-46.276.467
| s2cid = 130872645
| url = https://zenodo.org/record/1954073
}}
and trilobite ventral anatomy from material collected from the site he established. Beecher died unexpectedly in 1904; much material, as well as details of the location, was lost.{{cite journal
| title = The Appendages, Anatomy and Relationships of Trilobites
| year = 1920
| journal = The Memoirs of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences
| volume = 7
| issue =
| pages =
| url = https://www.scribd.com/doc/4695285/Appendages-Anatomy-and-Relationships-of-Trilobites-1920
| author = Raymond, Percy E.
}} Research was subsequently limited to study of material collected during the original excavations that had been distributed to various institutions.{{cite journal
| title = Beecher's Trilobite Bed revisited; ecology of an Ordovician deepwater fauna
| year = 1973
| journal = Postilla
| volume = 160
| pages = 1–25
| author = Cisne, John L.}}{{cite journal
| title = Triarthrus Eatoni (Trilobita): Anatomy of its exoskeletal, skeletomuscular, and digestive systems
| year = 1981
| journal = Palaeontographica Americana
| volume = 9
| pages = 1–142
| author = Cisne, John L.}}
Amateur fossil collectors Tom E. Whiteley (also responsible for rediscovering the Walcott-Rust quarry) and Dan Cooper rediscovered the location in 1984{{cite journal
| title = Presentation of the Harrell L. Strimple Award of the Paleontological Society to Thomas E. Whitely/response by Thomeas E. Whitely
| year = 2005
| journal = Journal of Paleontology
| volume = 79
| issue = 4
| pages = 831–4
| author1 = Brett, Carlton E.
| author2 = Whiteley, Thomas E.
| url = https://dx.doi.org/10.1666/0022-3360%282005%29079%5B0831%3APOTHLS%5D2.0.CO%3B2
| doi = 10.1666/0022-3360(2005)079[0831:POTHLS]2.0.CO;2| s2cid = 130851276
| url-access = subscription
}} and from 1985 academic excavations and studies (re)-commenced.{{cite journal
| title = Revisiting Beecher's Trilobite Beds
| year = 2008
| journal = Yale Environmental News
| volume = 13
| issue = 1
| pages = 9
| author1 = Farrell, Una
| url = http://www.yale.edu/yibs/YEN%20Fall%202007.pdf}} At least 4 other fossil-bearing horizons exhibiting similar preservation have subsequently been found at the original site. The small quarry at the site is currently closed to public access,[http://www.syracuse.com/forums/oneida/index.ssf?extlink?artid=1091 Forum talk regarding quarry access.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607095159/http://www.syracuse.com/forums/oneida/index.ssf?extlink%3Fartid=1091 |date=2011-06-07 }} being on private land and administered by Yale Peabody Museum as part of ongoing research projects.[http://earth.geology.yale.edu/~deb47/index.cgi?page-selection=2 Yale Peabody (Briggs Laboratory) research projects.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080425125235/http://earth.geology.yale.edu/~deb47/index.cgi?page-selection=2 |date=2008-04-25 }}
Sedimentology, environment of deposition and preservation
{{further|Beecher's Trilobite type preservation}}
The original Beecher's Trilobite Bed is found within a thick succession of fine grained turbidite beds, the fossiliferous bed is about 40 mm thick lying on a scoured mudstone surface with remnants of burrows. Well preserved fossil remains are found 7–10 mm above the base parallel to the bedding plane, strongly aligned by the current, with as many facing up as down.{{cite journal
| title = The ventral integument of trilobites
| year = 1902
| journal = American Journal of Science
| series=Series 4
| volume = 13
| issue = 75
| pages = 165–173
| last1 = Beecher
| first1 = C.E.| doi = 10.2475/ajs.s4-13.75.165
| bibcode = 1902AmJS...13..165B
}} Chemically, the bed contains high iron coupled with low organic carbon and low organic sulfur.
The ecosystem of the Beecher's Trilobite bed most likely inhabited very deep water, and has been compared to the various deep water faunas inhabiting enclosed basins off the coast of southern California. The depth of the area is indicated by the presence of blind animals, including the trilobite Cryptolithus, and the majority of the other taxa known occupying deposit and suspension feeding niches. The presence of turbidite beds in the surrounding sediments also adds evidence to this theory, as they are often deposited in deep water areas. The main source of food in the ecosystem would've been marine snow, and other various organic material floating downward from shallower areas. The environment would've also been dysaerobic, which may have aided in killing the organisms before they were buried by sediments via turbidity currents.
Fauna
The fauna of the site included various trilobites, megacheirans, graptolites, brachiopods, nautiloids, ostracods, poriferans, bryozoans, annelids, phyllocarids, bivalves, and echinoderms. The trilobite Triarthrus eatoni comprises 85% of the organisms sampled at the locality, other notable taxa include graptolites, branching algae, brachiopods and problematica (incertae sedis).{{Cite journal
| author1 = James W. Hagadorn
| author2 = Martha M. Buck
| title = Digital Paleobiology and Taphonomy of an Ordovician lagerstätte: Beecher's Trilobite Bed
| year = 2004
| journal = Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs
| volume = 36
| issue = 5
| pages = 383
| url =http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2004AM/finalprogram/abstract_78505.htm}} The trilobites Cryptolithus bellulus (Ulrich), Cornuproetus beecheri (Ruedeman), Primaspis crosotus (Locke) are also recorded. In addition, the megacheiran Lomankus is known from the site.{{cite journal |last1=Parry |first1=Luke A. |last2=Briggs |first2=Derek E.G. |last3=Ran |first3=Ruixin |last4=O'Flynn |first4=Robert J. |last5=Mai |first5=Huijian |last6=Clark |first6=Elizabeth G. |last7=Liu |first7=Yu |title=A pyritized Ordovician leanchoiliid arthropod |journal=Current Biology |date=29 October 2024 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2024.10.013 |url=https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(24)01367-8|doi-access=free }}
See also
- Beecher's Trilobite type preservation, the preservational pathway responsible
- Walcott-Rust Quarry, a nearby locality known for its unique preservation of trilobites
References
{{reflist|2}}
External links
- [http://www.peabody.yale.edu/ Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University] (official website)
- [http://yibs.yale.edu/sites/default/files/Fall%202007.pdf Yale Environmental News article with site pictures, see page 9]
{{Cambrian preservational modes}}
Category:Paleozoic paleontological sites of North America
Category:Ordovician paleontological sites
Category:Trilobites of North America
Category:Geologic formations of New York (state)