This is the "Fossil Friday" post #264. Expect this to be a somewhat regular feature of the website. We will post any fossil pictures you send in to [email protected]. Please include a short description or story. Check the #FossilFriday Twitter hash tag for contributions from around the world!
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We have something different today... a beautiful Arctinurus boltoni trilobite from Caleb's Quarry in New York. Primitive Worlds has a nice page on the history of Caleb's Quarry. It's one of the many localities of the Rochester Shale Silurian Lagerstatten.
The Middleport Quarry was a world famous source of Silurian Age invertebrate fossils from the Rochester Shale. Long before the excavation project started in the early 1990's, the fossil beds of the Lewiston Member of the Rochester Shale were made famous from the work done by James Hall in the 1850’s to 1860’s, Eugene Rinueberg in 1888 to 1890, Frank Springer in 1911 to 1914, and by Denis Tetreault, Wendy Taylor and Carlton Brett in the 1980’s. As a result of their work and others, the ancient environmental setting, depositional history and spectacular fauna specimens that were collected made the Rochester Shale of western New York and Ontario, Canada widely known.
It is now generally accepted that unique environmental and biological conditions existed to create perfect conditions for fossilization of several sequential ocean bottom communities of invertebrates. Geological evidence suggests that these communities existed in relatively shallow water below the effects of normal wave action, which was favorable to life. Carlton Brett describes that environment in the book, The Silurian Experience. For years the shallow ocean bottom remained full of life with the animals carrying out normal life cycles. Trilobites molted their shells, brachiopod shells separated after death, and scattered pieces of bryozoans, crinoids and cystoids were mixed in with other shell debris. This normal condition was periodically interrupted when large storms, perhaps hurricanes, churned up the sea floor. These storms would generate strong waves that would create great clouds of sediment that rolled across the sea floor for many miles, smothering the existing bottom communities. Any animals not able to escape the deluge of mud were quickly killed and buried. As a result of rapid burial, delicate fossils such as crinoids, cystoids and starfish remained intact, and in most cases out of the reach of scavengers. Moreover, since the smothered ocean floor was below normal wave action, it remained undisturbed from further reworking by waves and currents. Eventually the next generation of sea animals would re-establish normal sea bottom conditions only to be destroyed when the next large storm passed through these communities. This cycle of life and death would repeat itself more than a dozen times in the Rochester Shale as indicated by the fossil rich beds referred to as the Lagerstatten beds.
This particular specimen comes from ESCONI member Tim Rogers, who's quite the trilobite hunter. He tries to do the "Dig With the Experts" event at Penn Dixie each year. Here is the story Tim sent...
It was originally unearthed by Ray Meyer in 2003 along with multiple flats of matrix from the Quarry, but was never gone through or prepped. Joe Kchodl (Paleo Joe), bought a lot of Rays un-prepped collection, and has been going through it for a while now. This particular specimen was prepped in 2025. Joe mentioned as he gets through more material, specimens will go up for sale on his fossil store at https://thefossilplace.com/ as they become available.
Ray Meyer was a significant figure in the world of paleontology, particularly known for his involvement with the Caleb Quarry in Middleport, New York, where he helped establish fossil recovery operations. He is also recognized for donating a trilobite fossil, Arctinurus boltoni, to the American Museum of Natural History.
Caleb's Quarry has been closed to the public for a while now after new owners purchased it. The species is rare, since access to the beds have been closed, so they are harder to find.
Thanks for sharing, Tim!
