Trilobites of Nopah Range

This video is about yet another fossil hunting locality, where you can find one of the earliest species of trilobites. We visited it when we traveled to Death Valley National Park in winter. It’s a place where roads are empty, gas stations are scarce and mobile phone coverage is essentially absent.
Trilobites can be found in shale with greenish and maroon hues. The layers of sediment represent Lower Cambrian Pyramid Shale Member of the Carrara formation and were deposited around 520 million years ago. That was an era when some animals were developing protection from predators by adding armor to their bodies in the form of what scientists call an exoskeleton. Marine worms with multiple segments and appendages were likely the ancestors of arthropods including trilobites. The appearance of mineralized plates allowed the earliest arthropods to be more active in seeking the food. However, they had to shed off their exoskeletons periodically to allow for the growth of the body. Over their lifetime, each animal produced multiple molts and increasing the changes to leave their own imprint in the fossil record of the planet Earth.
We came a half-an-hour before sunset and surprisingly were able to find a few good specimens. Mostly trilobite head shields or cephalons. Complete specimens are rather uncommon because the exoskeletons fell apart during molting and other parts of the exoskeletons are relatively small. Most of the trilobites from this locality can be assigned to genus Olenellus. The name refers to a mythological figure Olenus that was turned into stone by Greek gods along with his wife who claimed that she was more beautiful than any goddess. The partial fossils are exposed either from top or from the bottom but in both cases the large crescent-shaped compound eyes are easily recognizable. Trilobites from genus Olenellus lived only during Early Cambrian period and can be used as a guide fossil to date the rocks.
The place is called Nopah range in Inyo county, California. It’s located less than half of a mile west of Emigrant pass along Old Spanish Trail Highway. The roadcut is a bit uphill to the right of the road if driving from Tecopa. It has greenish and brownish colors and covered by many flat rocks that were split and discarded by previous visitors.
Important, before visiting any fossil sites, do your own research as regulations can change. Be a responsible collector and try to preserve natural state of the sites. If you are interested in Nature’s curiosities and fossils in particular, our channel has plenty of videos on this topic.
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Trilobites of Wheeler Shale:
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Chocolate Mountain Trilobite Adventure:
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Lots of Facts about Trilobites (epic video):
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External websites
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