Mount Stephen trilobite beds

The Mount Stephen trilobite beds (UNSM locality 14s)[1] are a series of fossil strata on Mount Stephen, British Columbia that contain exceptionally preserved fossil material.

Part of the same stratigraphic unit as the Burgess Shale deposit, many non-mineralized parts (such as anomalocarid claws, sponges, and trilobite legs) are preserved; in addition, a high density of trilobite fossils is present.

The trilobite beds were the first Burgess shale locality to be discovered.

[2] The richness of fossils in the Field area was first identified by workers associated with the construction of the Trans-Canada railway, which had (somewhat controversially) been routed through the Kicking Horse valley.

[3] Richard McConnell, of the Geological Survey of Canada, was pointed to the beds by a railway worker whilst mapping the geology around the railway line in September 1886.

The view from the Mount Stephen trilobite beds, with anomalocaridid claws visible on a slab in the foreground, the Canadian Pacific Railway is visible in the distance.