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- Title
Great Canadian Lagerstätten 2. Macro- and Microfossils of the Mount Cap Formation (Early and Middle Cambrian, Northwest Territories).
- Authors
Harvey, Thomas H. P.; Butterfield, Nicholas J.
- Abstract
The Early-Middle Cambrian Mount Cap Formation, NWT, hosts a diverse range of exceptionally preserved fossils. Like the celebrated Burgess Shale of British Columbia, the Mount Cap contains carbonaceous compression fossils of animals that lacked mineralized hard parts, as well as the fully articulated skeletons of shelly taxa. Its unique importance, however, lies in exceptional carbonaceous preservation at a microscopic scale. Acid-extracted microfossils from the 'Little Bear biota' of the Mackenzie Mountains reveal important details of problematic groups including chancelloriids and hyolithids, and provide direct evidence of Cambrian diets in the form of faecal strings. A complementary microfossil assemblage from the subsurface of the Colville Hills region contains an extraordinary diversity of exquisitely preserved arthropod cuticle, and constitutes the oldest known record of complex crown-group crustaceans. We discuss the wider significance of the Mount Cap fossils, and describe some new forms that point to the potential for future discoveries.
- Subjects
BRITISH Columbia; SHALE; FOSSILS; FOSSIL crustaceans; CAMBRIAN stratigraphic geology; CAMBRIAN paleontology
- Publication
Geoscience Canada, 2011, Vol 38, Issue 4, p165
- ISSN
0315-0941
- Publication type
Article