Beecher's Trilobite Bed
Beecher's Trilobite Bed is a Konservat-Lagerstätte of Late Ordovician (Caradoc) age located within the Frankfort Shale in Cleveland's Glen, Oneida County, New York, USA. Only 3–4 centimeters thick, Beecher's Trilobite Bed has yielded numerous exceptionally preserved trilobites with the ventral anatomy and soft tissue intact, the soft tissue preserved by pyrite replacement. Pyritisation allows the use of X-rays to study fine detail of preserved soft body parts still within the host rock. Pyrite replacement of soft tissue is unusual in the fossil record; the only Lagerstätten thought to show such preservation were Beecher's Trilobite Bed, the Devonian Hunsrück Slates of Germany, and the Jurassic beds of La Voulte-sur-Rhône in France, although new locations are coming to light in New York state.
| Beecher's Trilobite Bed | |
|---|---|
| Stratigraphic range: Late Ordovician (Caradoc) | |
Two specimens of the trilobite species Triarthrus eatoni. These trilobites are preserved with pyrite, allowing for the presence of soft body parts. | |
| Type | Bed |
| Unit of | Frankfort Formation |
| Area | Small quarry only |
| Thickness | 3–4 cm (1.2–1.6 in) |
| Lithology | |
| Primary | Shale |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 43°15.2′N 75°24.5′W |
| Region | Oneida Co., New York |
| Country | United States |
| Extent | Very limited |
| Type section | |
| Named for | Charles Emerson Beecher |