Burgess Shale
The Burgess Shale is a fossil-bearing deposit exposed in the Canadian Rockies of British Columbia, Canada.[2][3] It is famous for the exceptional preservation of the soft parts of its fossils. At 508 million years old (middle Cambrian),[4] it is one of the earliest fossil beds containing soft-part imprints.
Further information: Burgess Shale type fauna, Fossils of the Burgess Shale, and Paleobiota of the Burgess ShaleBurgess Shale
The rock unit is a black shale and crops out at a number of localities near the town of Field in Yoho National Park and the Kicking Horse Pass. Another outcrop is in Kootenay National Park 42 km to the south.
Working with the Burgess Shale[edit]
The fossils of the Burgess Shale are preserved as black carbon films on black shales, and so are difficult to photograph; however, various photographic techniques can improve the quality of the images that can be acquired.[21] Other techniques include backscatter SEM, elemental mapping and camera lucida drawing.
Once images have been acquired, the effects of decay and taphonomy must be accounted for before a correct anatomical reconstruction can be made. A consideration of the combination of characters allows researchers to establish the taxonomic affinity.