TRILOBITES OF THE CATHEDRAL (Dolomite) FORMATION:

Ross Lake Shale Member:

Cathedral (Dolomite) Formation, Ross Lake Shale Member, Albertella Zone (Albertella Fauna), eastern British Columbia (Yoho and Banff National Parks).

Note – the Albertella Zone was formerly included in the Ptarmigan Formation.

Trilobites:

Agraulos stator Walcott, 1916 = Mexicella stator (Walcott, 1916)

Albertella bosworthi Walcott, 1908 = Paralbertella bosworthi (Walcott, 1908)

Albertella declivis Rasetti, 1951

Albertella helena Walcott, 1908

Albertella microps Rasetti, 1951

Albertella nitida Resser

Albertella robsonensis Resser

Albertella rossensis Resser, 1936 (may be conspecific with Albertella nitida Resser)

Albertella similaris Resser = Paralbertella bosworthi (Walcott, 1908)

Albertella n. sp. Deiss, 1939

Albertella 2 n. sp. Deiss, 1939

Amecephalus agnesensis Walcott, 1912) (formerly assigned to Olenopsis, Kochiella, and Alokistocare)

“Amecephalus” stator (Walcott, 1916) = Mexicella stator (Walcott, 1916)

“Amecephalus” 2 n. sp. Deiss, 1939

Bathyuriscus rossensis Walcott, 1917 = Ptarmigania rossensis (Walcott, 1917)

Bathyuriscus cf. rossensis Walcott, 1917 = Ptarmigania rossensis (Walcott, 1917)

Kochina americana (Walcott, 1912)

Kochina bosworthensis Resser, 1935 = Kochina americana (Walcott, 1912)

Mexicella stator (Walcott, 1916) (formerly assigned to Agraulos, “Amecephalus” and Alokistocare)

Olenopsis agnesensis Walcott, 1912 = Amecephalus agnesensis Walcott, 1912)

Olenopsis cf. americanus Walcott, 1912 = Kochina americana (Walcott, 1912)

Paralbertella bosworthi (Walcott, 1908)

Poliella chilo? (Walcott) [Poliella? cf. chilo (Walcott)]

Ptarmigania rossensis (Walcott, 1917)

Ptarmingia sp. Deiss, 1939

Ptychoparia sp. indet.

Vanuxemella contracta Walcott, 1916a

Vanuxemella nortia Walcott, 1916

Vanuxemella n. sp. Deiss, 1939

Rasetti (1951) broke the Albertella Zone into 2 faunules and recorded the following species:

Albertella bosworthi faunule:

Albertella bosworthi Walcott, 1908 = Paralbertella bosworthi (Walcott, 1908)

Albertella declivis Rasetti, 1951

Albertella microps Rasetti, 1951

Albertella nitida Resser, 1908

Kochina americana (Walcott, 1912)

Paralbertella bosworthi (Walcott, 1908)

Ptarmigania rossensis (Walcott, 1917)

Vanuxemella nortia Walcott, 1916

Albertella limbata faunule:

Albertella limbata Rasetti, 1951

Albertella stenorachis Rasetti, 1951

Kochina macrops Rasetti

Ptarmiganoides bowensis Rasetti, 1951

Takakkaw Tongue Formation:

    The Takakkaw Tongue Formation is the basinal equivalent of the lower portion of the Cathedral (Dolomite) Formation in eastern British Columbia (mainly Yoho National Park). It is unconformably overlain by the Burgess Shale Formation and conformably underlain by the Mt. Whyte Formation.

    The Plagiura-Kochaspis to Albertella and Albertella to Glossopleura zonal boundaries lie within this formation. Fletcher and Collins (2003) mention that "faunal evidence shows that the Plagiura-Kochaspis to Albertella and Albertella to Glossopleura zonal boundaries lie within the Takakkaw Tongue sequence", although no faunal evidence is presented at all in their paper. Because of the sparseness of published data on this formation, we have not as yet been able to establish a faunal list. If you have any information, please contact us at kevinbrett@rogers.com

Other trilobites reported from the Cathedral Formation:

Kochiella chares (Walcott, 1917b) (see Sundberg and McCollum, 2002)

Trilobites from undifferentiated "Ptarmigan" Formation:

- since the "Ptarmigan" Formation., no longer exists, these species most likely occur in the Cathedral Formation (and/or Mt. Whyte Fm.). 

Crepicephalus chares

Neolenus constans Walcott

Poliella? chilo Walcott

Ptychoparia? cilles Walcott

Zacanthoides? cimon Walcott

Comments:

     These units occur mainly in Canada's National Parks (mainly Banff and Yoho), so collecting is forbidden without a scientific permit. It  may be possible to locate new areas of outcrop outside the parks (along the continental divide and in the Front Ranges), however no work has been done on this. Any information on new localities would be greatly appreciated. Please contact us at kevinbrett@rogers.com

     The Ross Lake Shale Member was formerly included in the Ptarmigan Formation. The rock units within the Ptarmigan Formation were reassigned to part of the the Mount Whyte Formation, and to part of the Cathedral Formation (Rasetti, 1951). A list for the non-Albertella Zone trilobites in the Ptarmigan Formation is listed above (it is not sure whether these are Mt. Whyte or Cathedral species). If you have more information, please contact us. This faunal list is based mainly on the works of Walcott, Deiss, Burling, and Rasetti - so many of the generic assignments are not updated. Please point out any synonomies or generic changes to us.

REFERENCES:

Burling, L. D. (1914)  Early Cambrian stratigraphy in the North American cordillera, with discussion of Albertella and related fauns. Geol. Surv. Canad, Mus. Bull. No. 2, pp. 93-129

Deiss, C. (1939)  Cambrian formations of southwestern Alberta and southeastern British Columbia. Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer., Vol. 50, pp. 951-1026

Fletcher, T. P. & Collins, D. H. (2003) [PDF] The Burgess Shale and associated Cambrian formations west of the Fossil Gully Fault Zone on Mount Stephen, British Columbia. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 40: 1823-1838.

Rasetti, F. (1951)  Middle Cambrian stratigraphy and faunas of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Volume 116, No. 5, 277 pp.

Sundberg, F.A., and McCollum, L. B., (2002), Kochiella Poulsen, 1927, and Hadrocephalites new genus (Trilobita: Ptychopariida) from the early Middle Cambrian of western North America. Journal of Paleontology, v. 76, p. 76-94.

Walcott, C. D. (1917) The Albertella fauna in British Columbia and Montana. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Volume 67, No. 2, pp. 9-59