Bill's Fossil Museum

Trilobites of Canada
(Vancouver Island, British Columbia):

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The First Record of Trilobites from Vancouver Island


      The discovery of the first trilobites on Vancouver Island includes the brachymetopine Brachymetopus cf. pseudometopina Gauri and Ramovs, and the ditomopygine Paladin sp.  These are described and illustrated for the first time from the Mount Mark Formation, Buttle Lake Group, exposed at Rift Creek.  A diverse invertebrate fauna is associated and is represented by at least 54 taxa distributed amongst the following groups: Porifera, Rugosa, Tabulata, Gastropoda, Bivalvia, Malacostraca, Bryozoa, Brachiopoda, Blastoidea and Crinoidea.   Associated brachiopods (22 taxa), the blastoid Agmoblastus and trilobites, strongly indicate a late Pennsylvanian age for the Mount Mark Formation at this locality.

      Hessin, W.A. 1997. in  Program and Abstracts. Second British Columbia Paleontological Symposium.

Family BRACHYMETOPIDAE  Prantl and Pribyl, 1950
Subfamily BRACHYMETOPINAE  Prantl and Pribyl, 1950

brachymetopus_neg.jpg (24124 bytes)
copyright W.A. Hessin, 1999

Upper Pennsylvanian
(Virgilian)

Buttle Lake Group
(Mount Mark Formation)

Genus Brachymetopus McCoy, 1847

Brachymetopus cf. pseudometopina
Gauri and Ramovs, 1964

brachymetopus_pygidium.jpg (6990 bytes)


Family PROETIDAE  Salter, 1864
Subfamily DITOMOPYGINAE  Hupe, 1953

paladin_neg.jpg (17648 bytes)
copyright W.A. Hessin, 1999

Upper Pennsylvanian
(Virgilian)

Buttle Lake Group
(Mount Mark Formation)

Genus Paladin Weller, 1936

Paladin sp.

paladin_eye.jpg (8222 bytes)
Close-up of eye
paladin_pygidium.jpg (5480 bytes)
Pygidium (internal mould)

CHEIRURID TRILOBITES