It seems that just as soon as I got back from the last trip this past weekend, I'm barely unpacked and about to launch on another. The fossil dig itinerary is filling up fast, and it will be a challenge to shoehorn it all in before it is back to riding the lectern in September. I've made some interesting field discoveries I'm not quite ready to post yet, and also acquired a few quite exciting trilobite specimens I haven't had a chance to photograph -- that is how busy things are as of late. And that is not a bad thing. There is a lot more blood and treasure to spend before the great trilobite hunt of 2025 is over. I can safely say I've encountered about 52 distinct species of the critters so far this year, breaking last year's record of 51.

So, for now, just another little bucket list item crossed off the list. I've long eyed getting one of these Moroccan lichids but never pulled the trigger. May I present the wee lichid from the Devonian, Acanthopyge ?estevei​:

Ok, enough out of me. Time to pack the gear, get in the car, and do some farflung rock-bothering! On a personal note, it is great to hear from so many eager collectors who have bumped into this wee blog as of late; I do enjoy talking shop about the bugs.

CORRECTION: The trilobite is actually Branikarges bassei on account of some taxonomic switching around. Allart van Viersen reassigned the genus of Acanthopyge to Huginarges, but this was subsequently rejected by Basse and Müller to be included in the genus of Branikarges. My undying gratitude to S. Morrison for his correction!

Key references of note: :
1. Basse, M., Müller, P. 2023. Trilobiten aus dem Leun-Schiefer und Leun-Kalk von Löhnberg und Leun in der zentralen Lahn-Mulde in Hessen (Grenzbereich Unter-/Mitteldevon, Rheinisches Massiv, Varisziden). [Trilobites from the Leun Shale and Leun Limestone of Löhnberg and Leun Villages in the Central Lahn Syncline in Hesse (Lower/Middle Devonian Boundary, Rhenish Massif, Variscides).] Mainzer Naturwissenschaftliches Archiv Beiheft, 37:1-211

​2. Van Viersen, A.P. 2021
Systematics of Devonian Trochurine Trilobites (Lichidae).
Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen, 300(2):175-187

I'll be out in the field quite a lot, so just a quickie post. Picked this up recently, a bit of a bucket list item. Tasteful resto, 13.5cm long. Drotops megalomanicus​. 

It's been a whirlwind of a month with more than a dozen days in the field prospecting and sundry fossil-related things. A very brief hiatus to kick off May, courtesy of a week-long grad course for me to teach, but we';; be hitting the ground running as soon as the course wraps up. Recent forays into the Silurian were rebuffed, but some work in the lower Devonian has been interesting in its own way. 

This is typical contact zone between the upper Silurian Bass Islands Fm and the lower Devonian Bois Blanc Fm. In some areas of Ontario, there is a layer of the Oriskany sands, and sometimes a layer of rip-up clasts and cobbles. In this instance, there is the clearly delineated layers of the green glauconitic layers as sea levels began to rise again to kick off the Devonian, creating a shallow marine environment. Upward progression sees an increasing number and variety of brachiopods, including large spirifers and Leptaena. Within the greenish argillaceous limestones, I have encountered numerous moulted parts of Anchiopsis anchiops. In fact, across all my collected specimens of these species, I have about seven distinct preservation and lithological differences, which should serve as an example for a breakout text in the trilobite revision book discussing how rapid lateral facies changes and taphonomy can result in different preservation and appearance of the same species. This can be quite stark even in lower Devonian deposits where Anchiopsis can appear robust with chocolate brown shell glaze, or black, purely steinkern, beige, and green. Trilobite enthusiasts in Ontario already know the more obvious differences in taphonomy when comparing Pseudogygites latimarginatus between the Lindsay/Cobourg Fm and the overlying Whitby shales whereby the former appear robust and the latter as flattened when sea levels (with added pressure) created a more or less anoxic environment as silts were deposited. 

Also in some areas of Ontario, the Bois Blanc Fm at the lower strata are relatively undifferentiated, or otherwise turbid high energy environments whereby only brachiopods and the growing presence of corals survive relatively whole. There is not much by way of bryozoans in those layers, but they do start becoming present as the unit extends upward. A few phacopids start showing up in the record, but it would seem that Terataspis is restricted to at least the middle sequence once the corals become more abundant along with extensive chert. So far, it would seem that there is a sequence of trilobites from oldest to youngest in the Bois Blanc Fm: Anchiopsis, Anchiopsis-Burtonops, Burtonops-Calyemene, Burtonops-Calymene-Terataspis, Burtonops. This is based on my own measurement/observation of the stratigraphic sequences of the unit across several locations. Of course, lithology matters, and this giant formation is as variable over time as it is over lateral facies. 

Taking a breather from field activities, it was time to refocus on the house. Pictured here is a collage of some of my trilobite drawings in the dining room -- but this is near the end of the process that involved changing out the light fixture, repainting the whole room a brighter colour, and some wiring stuff. The last hurdle is deciding on some cabinetry for display of specimens (not just trilobites, but minerals and other neat things). Pictured below is the new ceiling fixture we installed, darkened to show its neat sparkly nature. This 2700 lumen unit draws very little power, and throws off a bit of dappled rainbow light, but not so much that one feels they are eating at a disco. 

It is hard to anticipate what May will bring, but it would be nice to pivot back into the meaty trilobitic Ordovician given how much due diligence we've already paid to the Devonian. May and June are optimal months for field work as the foliage is not so thick yet, and the temperature is not ridiculous. 

The weather is not cooperating as much as we would like for the long weekend, but nevertheless our hunger is ravenous for getting back out there. We spent the day plotting and planning ever more routes for prospecting, but also took some time in the lab. 

This turned out to be Angela's real trip-maker, a complete Cybeloides plana. Well, mostly complete (missing a few bits here and there), but this hairy bug turned out alright, better than most. I roughed it out with dolomite and swapped in a mostly baking soda base media mix to get the finer details. These are thin-shelled bugs, so it is way too easy to blow the long pleural tips off. A cabinet-sitter, for sure. This was Angela's second complete trilobite find, and it was a banger!

My trip-maker was nothing complete, but a broken and disarticulated Bufoceraurus bispinosus. Still, a rare and very puffy bug. Of note would be those giant devil horn tubers on the anterior of the glabella. We desperately need a cheirurid revision for Ontario, if Westrop and Amati are listening!

While I was tooling in the lab to finish up that Cyebloides, Angela was doing some hand prep on a piece that she picked up for the gastropod. In the course of that, she found a surprise Sceptaspis lincolnensis pygidium. I gave it a few puffs of air dent.

Who is this ravishing redhead at the box? It was time for Angela to get a handle on the air tools, and I may never be able to budge her off that stool again. It was a good move on my part to have the electrician put in so many additional outlets and up the amperage when I switched from the fuse panel to breakers. It is looking like I'll need to get a separate station for air tooling. She is far more patient and meticulous than I am, so it won't be long before she exceeds my own prep skills. I couldn't be more proud of her -- from finding amazing specimens in the field, her hunger to get into the field, and now prep!

A spectacular weekend in the Ordovician with matching weather. Angela and I set out to cover much of the Ontario ordovician, and came away with some good things after a lot of prospecting and planning. It was time to move on from all our damnable Devonian digging and go where the trilobites have half a chance to appear complete. What we thought were the trip-makers were not, and the specimens we thought were so-so turned out to be the real winners once I got some of the material into the lab for some preliminary scoping about. 

Cobourg Fm., possibly Isotelus latus. This had the potential to be the trip-maker, but it was iffy if the cephalon was intact. Not to spoil the ending, but it was not. 

Also Cobourg Fm. This pair of Flexicalymene croneisi show promise, but it is hard to say until I get them into the box. 

Angela was the Pseudogygites latimarginatus whisperer on this trip. As opposed to being the typical flattened asaphid in the black shales of the Whitby Fm, in the Cobourg they appear 3D. 

Time to step up to the Bobcaygeon and Verulam Fms. This, to my mind, is Angela's trip-maker: a mostly complete Cybeloides plana. This is just my preliminary prep until I alter my blast mix with more baking soda and less dolomite given the thin-shelled delicacy and long pleural spines.

I always strive to find this rempleurid complete, but Hypodicranotus striatulus remains elusive apart from its tantalizing full-body length tuning fork hypostomes. Verulam Fm.

I picked this up in the Verulam Fm thinking it would just be the cheek of a Dolichoharpes dentoni, but so far it appears to be turning out in preliminary prep as the entire cephalon. Will the rest of the body follow? I'm doubtful, but any scrap of harpetid in Ontario is worth taking home. 

The Gull River Fm can be fickle, but every once in a while it can yield up some goodness. Yes, it is incomplete and disarticulated, but it should still clean up nicely and show more of its better features. Any Bufoceraurus is good to take home, fragmentary or not.

. It takes a lot of planning to get the spoils from prospecting. Road cuts and creeks may be largely disappointments, but the motivated may be rewarded. For now, some prep and back to planning the next grand adventure. 

The weather has turned, sort of, to spring. It is still a bit of a push-pull, but we've been out and about, touring much of southwestern Ontario's Devonian before we range much farther (we had a sort of skunked Ordovician trip, but the last stop was gainful Devonian to save the day). We've been out in warm sun, drizzle, and snow. Not terribly much to show for it, but it is the damnable Devonian, and we've added new site prospects to the list. It's still very early innings, and I've already encountered 19 species of trilobite in the field, although nothing new yet, just more of the usual suspects (including Terataspis, naturally, as I seem to hold the world's biggest collection of parts of that giant lichid). The list also already has Odontocephalus, Coronura, Pseudodechenella, Crassiproetus, Burtonops, Ceraurinella, Pseudogygites, Thaleops, Isotelus, Trypaulites, Anchiopsis, and others. 

Of course, the dining room table is covered in rocks. With Angela as my fossil comrade, it's twice as much haul from the field, twice as much dust kicked up in the lab. It's fabulous. 

Butting in almost everywhere we go are pesky rostroconchs. Hundreds. Just a few shots of them from different locations, Dundee Fm (radically different lithology and facies). One is a giant, and the other is a 1 metre long slab of several. 

Tons of neat gastropods and brachiopods, too, which I have to admit in all my trilobite snobbery are kind of neat. Maybe photos of those on a slow day.

Some action shots by my shutterbug fossil comrade lover on my birthday with me pounding on yet * another * radically different Dundee Fm facies. 

It is coming time soon to put the Devonian in the back pocket so as to get cracking on with the Ordovician as soon as the weather gives us the green light. More to come!

The season is young, but it seems the entire month so far has been dedicated to all things Devonian, be it in the field, the lab, or the drawing desk. Angela and I have been able to add quite a few new site prospects to a growing list of southwestern Ontario Devonian spots, but it is my hope we'll soon be able to step out into the Ordovician soon. The unseasonably warm weather took a turn for the general seasonal weather of March, but the longer days and springtime are in ascendence. Once I scale the grading mountain of the end of semester, it will be out the door I go. 

A few Terataspis parts were found, but nothing ready to show yet. For now, a doodle and a field shot.

Angela and I have already busted rock twice now since a first foray on March 9th. Our current focus is on Devonian materials all across the province, and we have plenty of designs on several trips into the Ordovician and Silurian once my semester winds down. We've pored over maps, literature, dropped our pins, and have plotted optimal routes to intersect with as many locations as possible. We are tooled up and ready. The first two forays were like spring training baseball, and there is another such event with some recon and prospecting during a 5-6 hour window tomorrow (it rains before and after). It feels great to be swinging the hammer again!

The first trip was checking in on my lower Dundee spot in Oxford County to find fragments of the usual suspects, like Odontocephalus, Coronura, and the proetids. Today's trip was more local to a spot with glacial erratics and a large abundance of Bois Blanc Formation material, so the usual Burtonops, Anchiopsis, Crassiproetus, and we even bagged two fragments of Terataspis grandis. 

If possible, we are looking at getting 50 field days in from the 150 days I have free from April to September (minus the one week of teaching in May). We have a mix of one week, two weeks, and even quickie weekend blitzes plotted out in relatively broad brushstrokes (which is to say there is flexibility baked in to accommodate swaps or serendipity). My goal is to bump into at least 50 species of trilobite this year (8 already in the bag now), while being hopeful to find some stellar examples of the old and possibly the new. I have my wish list in mind. We will be keeping our trips in Canada, so my apologies to my US fossil comrades for not paying a visit. 

With soaking rain inbound for Sunday, that would be an ideal day to sit down at the drawing desk in the library/studio. I still have one or two more plotted and ready to get detailing before I put the pencils away outside of rainy days when I'm not in the prep lab or doing some of the heavy tedious lifting on the trilobite book.

For now, a new acquisition got on the cheap, a Redlichia sp. (?chinensis) from the Kaili Fm, Guizhou province, China. I'm a bit shy on Cambrian bugs, and not much able to really do the diagnostic differentiation of Redlichids. It is common to find them without cheeks, so this was too good for me to pass up.

And here are some field action shots, in the snow and on this unusual warm spell:

The mercury is starting to show that winter is losing its battle to imminent springtime, but it isn't quite time to get out into the field just yet. Also, there is this heavy semester to deal with before I can swing my hammer conscience-free!

It is just a matter of time at this point. So to burn away what remains of stubborn winter, time to get back to the pencils. Angela has her own art space just in the other room, so we have been functioning like a factory. Blessed with tons of cheap frames, we have designs about setting up collages of my trilobite work in an optimal aesthetic way in various spots around the house. Anyhow, simple body plans does not mean easy drawing. I could have prepared two of these in the time this phat phacops took!

Speaking of prep, banged out this "left for dead in a bucket" Flexi from Hastings Cty. Missing way too much for a common bug to get excited about, but I had an hour to spare and an itch to prep.

​That's it from me. I have two bugs coming in the mail, and maybe 2-4 more drawings to squeeze out before it's field time.

Motivated as I am by the new library/office, I took it for a spin today to get back to drawing before the crush of papers comes next week. Angela set me up with a plexiglass surface for the desk to avoid any nasty desk-texture transference on the drawings (and so I could finally get off the dining room table!). 

In any event, it took me 12+ hours from plotting to completion. I have two more already queued up (and a few others, too), but I also stare at a huge crushing load of grading starting Monday, so those may have to be deferred. 

It's been over two years, so my apologies for any sloppiness in technique, and as usual the camera washes out all the nice detail. Next up will be a Moroccops. Stay tuned.