Seldom Seen Orygmaspis Contracta, McKay Group, BC

This is a fine example of a trilobite that is seldom seen for sale Orygmaspis contracta. This exquisite trilobite has long genal spines running about half the length of the body, a pair of extended pleural spines and four pairs of tiny spines on it's pygidium. This example is .83 inches long which is about average size for the species.

Finding specimens of Orygmaspis with both cheeks and this nicely articulated is tough. It was painstakingly prepared using air abrasives under microscope, a task that was made extremely difficult due to it's tissue paper thin shell.

Access to the collecting localities where these are found is very limited and this specimen is part of a small lot I was able to recently acquire.