.55 Inch Triarthrus, Soft Body Preservation

The localities that preserve trilobites with soft bodied preservation can probably be counted on one hand. One of these localities is the historic Beecher's beds in the Lorraine Group of NY. Less than a decade ago a new locality was discovered a short distance away that has produced amazing, soft bodied preservation of trilobites and other organisms. Because of the rapid burial of the trilobites, in an anoxic environment the soft body parts were replaced by pyrite preserving details not typically seen.

This specimen is 13mm (.55 inches) in length, and preserved dorsally. The legs on both sides are nicely preserved and the antennae are outstretch. This is a very fine specimen which I hand selected.

Preparation of these soft bodied specimens is an immensely time consuming task. It is done under high magnification using extremely low pressure air abrasion. A specimen like this would have taken several hours to complete.