Trilobites of the Peyto Formation

Peyto Formation, latest Lower Cambrian, eastern Main Ranges, southern Canadian Rocky Mountains, Alberta and B. C.

Trilobite List:

This list is mainly from an unpublished thesis (Tremblay, 1996).

Trilobites:

Antagmus cf. A. sp. 1 Fritz, 1991

Bonnia fieldensis (Walcott, 1917) (Tremblay, 1996 referred this species to Olenoides, however it is unpublished)

Olenellus gilberti Meek, 1874

Olenellus romensis Resser & Howell, 1938

Olenellus sp. 1 (of Tremblay, 1996, unpubl. thesis)

Olenellus sp. 2 (of Tremblay, 1996, unpubl. thesis)

“Agraulos” unca (Walcott, 1917) in Rasetti, 1955 [=Syspacephalus unca (Walcott, 1917) in Resser, 1936] (Tremblay, 1996 referred this species to Onchocephalites, however it is unpublished)

Periomma cf. walcotti Resser, 1938

Syspacephalus charops (Walcott, 1917)

Comments:

            The Peyto Formation is underlain by the Gog Group (Lower Cambrian) and overlain by the Mt. Whyte Formation. It is uppermost Lower Cambrian in age. The Peyto Formation (shallow subtidal and shoal facies) is correlative with the lower part of the Naiset Formation (deeper water slope facies). The Peyto includes the upper part of the Bonnia-Olenellus Zone (Olenoides fieldensis Zone of Tremblay, 1996). Tremblay, 1996 introduced a new zonation and biofacies concept for the Peyto, Mt. Whyte, and Naiset Formations, although this is not published.

            Since the Peyto Formation is mainly exposed in Canada’s mountain parks, collecting is forbidden. The exposures in the eastern Main Ranges of the Rockies are within Jasper, Banff, Yoho, and Kootenay National Parks.

References:

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

Tremblay, J. V. (1996)  Trilobites and Strata of the Lower and Middle Cambrian Peyto, Mount Whyte and Naiset Formatiopns, Alberta and British Columbia. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario.