The Spence Shale Lagerstätte: an important window into Cambrian biodiversity
Abstract
The Spence Shale Member of the Langston Formation is a Cambrian (Miaolingian: Wuliuan) Lagerstätte in northeastern Utah and southeastern Idaho. It is older than the more well-known Wheeler and Marjum Lagerstätten from western Utah, and the Burgess Shale from Canada. The Spence Shale shares several species in common with these younger deposits, yet it also contains a remarkable number of unique species. Because of its relatively broad geographic distribution, and the variety of different palaeoenvironments and taphonomy, the fossil composition and likelihood of recovering weakly skeletonized (or soft-bodied) taxa varies across localities. The Spence Shale is not only widely acknowledged for its collection of soft-bodied taxa, but also for its abundant trilobites and hyoliths. Recent discoveries from the Spence include problematic taxa and insights about the nature of palaeoenvironmental and taphonomic variation between different localities.
- Authors:
-
[1];
[3];
[1]
- Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence, KS (United States)
- Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence, KS (United States); Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1573348
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-SA-139163
Journal ID: ISSN 0016-7649
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Journal of the Geological Society
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 176; Journal Issue: 4; Journal ID: ISSN 0016-7649
- Publisher:
- The Geological Society of London
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 58 GEOSCIENCES
Citation Formats
Kimmig, Julien, Strotz, Luke C., Kimmig, Sara R., Egenhoff, Sven O., and Lieberman, Bruce S. The Spence Shale Lagerstätte: an important window into Cambrian biodiversity. United States: N. p., 2019.
Web. doi:10.1144/jgs2018-195.
Kimmig, Julien, Strotz, Luke C., Kimmig, Sara R., Egenhoff, Sven O., & Lieberman, Bruce S. The Spence Shale Lagerstätte: an important window into Cambrian biodiversity. United States. https://doi.org/10.1144/jgs2018-195
Kimmig, Julien, Strotz, Luke C., Kimmig, Sara R., Egenhoff, Sven O., and Lieberman, Bruce S. Fri .
"The Spence Shale Lagerstätte: an important window into Cambrian biodiversity". United States. https://doi.org/10.1144/jgs2018-195. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1573348.
@article{osti_1573348,
title = {The Spence Shale Lagerstätte: an important window into Cambrian biodiversity},
author = {Kimmig, Julien and Strotz, Luke C. and Kimmig, Sara R. and Egenhoff, Sven O. and Lieberman, Bruce S.},
abstractNote = {The Spence Shale Member of the Langston Formation is a Cambrian (Miaolingian: Wuliuan) Lagerstätte in northeastern Utah and southeastern Idaho. It is older than the more well-known Wheeler and Marjum Lagerstätten from western Utah, and the Burgess Shale from Canada. The Spence Shale shares several species in common with these younger deposits, yet it also contains a remarkable number of unique species. Because of its relatively broad geographic distribution, and the variety of different palaeoenvironments and taphonomy, the fossil composition and likelihood of recovering weakly skeletonized (or soft-bodied) taxa varies across localities. The Spence Shale is not only widely acknowledged for its collection of soft-bodied taxa, but also for its abundant trilobites and hyoliths. Recent discoveries from the Spence include problematic taxa and insights about the nature of palaeoenvironmental and taphonomic variation between different localities.},
doi = {10.1144/jgs2018-195},
journal = {Journal of the Geological Society},
number = 4,
volume = 176,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Mar 29 00:00:00 EDT 2019},
month = {Fri Mar 29 00:00:00 EDT 2019}
}
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
Other availability
Search WorldCat to find libraries that may hold this journal
Cited by: 21 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science
Web of Science
Save to My Library
You must Sign In or Create an Account in order to save documents to your library.
Works referenced in this record:
Seaweed morphology and ecology during the great animal diversification events of the early Paleozoic: A tale of two floras
journal, June 2017
- LoDuca, S. T.; Bykova, N.; Wu, M.
- Geobiology, Vol. 15, Issue 4
Notchia weugi gen. et sp. nov.: a new short-headed arthropod from the Weeks Formation Konservat-Lagerstätte (Cambrian; Utah)
journal, July 2014
- Lerosey-Aubril, Rudy
- Geological Magazine, Vol. 152, Issue 2
Using GIS to study palaeobiogeographic and macroevolutionary patterns in soft-bodied Cambrian arthropods
journal, July 2008
- Hendricks, Jonathan R.; Lieberman, Bruce S.; Stigall, Alycia L.
- Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, Vol. 264, Issue 1-2
Sequence stratigraphy, cyclic facies, and lagerstätten in the Middle Cambrian Wheeler and Marjum Formations, Great Basin, Utah
journal, June 2009
- Brett, Carlton E.; Allison, Peter A.; DeSantis, Michael K.
- Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, Vol. 277, Issue 1-2
The stalked filter feeder Siphusauctum lloydguntheri n. sp. from the middle Cambrian (Series 3, Stage 5) Spence Shale of Utah: its biological affinities and taphonomy
journal, August 2017
- Kimmig, Julien; Strotz, Luke C.; Lieberman, Bruce S.
- Journal of Paleontology, Vol. 91, Issue 5
Exceptionally preserved fossil assemblages through geologic time and space
journal, August 2017
- Muscente, A. D.; Schiffbauer, James D.; Broce, Jesse
- Gondwana Research, Vol. 48
Cambrian palaeoscolecids (Cycloneuralia) from Gondwana and reappraisal of species assigned to Palaeoscolex
journal, September 2013
- García-Bellido, Diego C.; Paterson, John R.; Edgecombe, Gregory D.
- Gondwana Research, Vol. 24, Issue 2
Rare primitive deuterostomes from the Cambrian (Series 3) of Utah
journal, July 2015
- Conway Morris, Simon; Halgedahl, Susan L.; Selden, Paul
- Journal of Paleontology, Vol. 89, Issue 4
Middle Cambrian arthropods from Utah
journal, March 2008
- Briggs, Derek E. G.; Lieberman, Bruce S.; Hendricks, Jonathan R.
- Journal of Paleontology, Vol. 82, Issue 2
Mechanism for Burgess Shale-type preservation
journal, March 2012
- Gaines, R. R.; Hammarlund, E. U.; Hou, X.
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 109, Issue 14
Graptolite (Hemichordata, Pterobranchia) preservation and identification in the Cambrian Series 3
journal, October 2015
- Maletz, Jörg; Steiner, Michael
- Palaeontology, Vol. 58, Issue 6
Morphologically Simple Enigmatic Fossils from the Wheeler Formation: a Comparison with Definitive Algal Fossils
journal, May 2012
- Handle, K. C.; Powell, W. G.
- PALAIOS, Vol. 27, Issue 5
Sedimentation of the Phyllopod Bed within the Cambrian Burgess Shale Formation of British Columbia
journal, January 2008
- Gabbott, S. E.; Zalasiewicz, J.; Collins, D.
- Journal of the Geological Society, Vol. 165, Issue 1
Cambrian suspension-feeding tubicolous hemichordates
journal, July 2016
- Nanglu, Karma; Caron, Jean-Bernard; Conway Morris, Simon
- BMC Biology, Vol. 14, Issue 1
Fossil Diagenesis in the Burgess Shale
journal, May 2007
- Butterfield, Nicholas J.; Balthasar, Uwe; Wilson, Lucy A.
- Palaeontology, Vol. 50, Issue 3
Occurrence of the Ordovician-type aglaspidid Tremaglaspis in the Cambrian Weeks Formation (Utah, USA)
journal, May 2013
- Lerosey-Aubril, Rudy; Ortega-HernÁNdez, Javier; Kier, Carlo
- Geological Magazine, Vol. 150, Issue 5
Ponticulocarpus, a new cornute-grade stylophoran from the Middle Cambrian Spence Shale of Utah
journal, September 1999
- Sumrall, Colin D.; Sprinkle, James
- Journal of Paleontology, Vol. 73, Issue 5
Coprolites in the Ravens Throat River LagerstÄTte of Northwestern Canada: Implications for the Middle Cambrian food web
journal, April 2018
- Kimmig, Julien; Pratt, Brian R.
- PALAIOS, Vol. 33, Issue 4
A new Soft-Bodied Fauna: the Pioche Formation of Nevada
journal, July 2003
- Lieberman, Bruce S.
- Journal of Paleontology, Vol. 77, Issue 4
Soft-bodied biota from the middle Cambrian (Drumian) Rockslide Formation, Mackenzie Mountains, northwestern Canada
journal, January 2015
- Kimmig, Julien; Pratt, Brian R.
- Journal of Paleontology, Vol. 89, Issue 1
New records of Burgess Shale-type taxa from the middle Cambrian of Utah
journal, May 2015
- Conway Morris, Simon; Selden, Paul A.; Gunther, Glade
- Journal of Paleontology, Vol. 89, Issue 3
Controls on Gut Phosphatisation: The Trilobites from the Weeks Formation Lagerstätte (Cambrian; Utah)
journal, March 2012
- Lerosey-Aubril, Rudy; Hegna, Thomas A.; Kier, Carlo
- PLoS ONE, Vol. 7, Issue 3
Hyoliths are Palaeozoic lophophorates
journal, January 2017
- Moysiuk, Joseph; Smith, Martin R.; Caron, Jean-Bernard
- Nature, Vol. 541, Issue 7637
Traces In the Dark--Sedimentary Processes and Facies Gradients In the Upper Shale Member of the Upper Devonian-Lower Mississippian Bakken Formation, Williston Basin, North Dakota, U.S.A
journal, August 2013
- Egenhoff, S. O.; Fishman, N. S.
- Journal of Sedimentary Research, Vol. 83, Issue 9
Arthropod appendages from the Weeks Formation Konservat-Lagerstätte: new occurrences of anomalocaridids in the Cambrian of Utah, USA
journal, May 2014
- Lerosey-Aubril, R.; Hegna, T. A.; Babcock, L. E.
- Bulletin of Geosciences
Chapter 4 Global distributional dynamics of Cambrian clades as revealed by Burgess Shale-type deposits
journal, January 2013
- Hendricks, Jonathan R.
- Geological Society, London, Memoirs, Vol. 38, Issue 1
Hurdiid radiodontans from the middle Cambrian (Series 3) of Utah
journal, July 2017
- Pates, Stephen; Daley, Allison C.; Lieberman, Bruce S.
- Journal of Paleontology, Vol. 92, Issue 1
A rare non-trilobite artiopodan from the Guzhangian (Cambrian Series 3) Weeks Formation Konservat-Lagerstätte in Utah, USA
journal, October 2014
- Ortega-Hernández, Javier; Lerosey-Aubril, Rudy; Kier, Carlo
- Palaeontology, Vol. 58, Issue 2
The Kinzers Formation (Pennsylvania, USA): the most diverse assemblage of Cambrian Stage 4 radiodonts
journal, July 2018
- Pates, Stephen; Daley, Allison C.
- Geological Magazine, Vol. 156, Issue 07
Cambrian formations and sections in part of Cordilleran trough
journal, July 1938
- Deiss, C.
- Geological Society of America Bulletin, Vol. 49, Issue 7
Taphonomic Analysis of Cambrian Vermiform Fossils of utah and Nevada, and Implications for the Chemistry of Burgess Shale-Type Preservation
journal, September 2017
- Broce, Jesse S.; Schiffbauer, James D.
- PALAIOS, Vol. 32, Issue 9
The Weeks Formation Konservat-Lagerstätte and the evolutionary transition of Cambrian marine life
journal, May 2018
- Lerosey-Aubril, Rudy; Gaines, Robert R.; Hegna, Thomas A.
- Journal of the Geological Society, Vol. 175, Issue 5
Lower and Middle Cambrian Stratigraphy in Northern utah and Southeastern Idaho
journal, January 1958
- Maxey, George B.
- Geological Society of America Bulletin, Vol. 69, Issue 6
The Emu Bay Shale Konservat-Lagerstätte: a view of Cambrian life from East Gondwana
journal, November 2015
- Paterson, John R.; García-Bellido, Diego C.; Jago, James B.
- Journal of the Geological Society, Vol. 173, Issue 1
Deep-water stratigraphic cyclicity and carbonate mud mound development in the Middle Cambrian Marjum Formation, House Range, Utah, USA
journal, October 2002
- Elrick, Maya; Snider, Anna C.
- Sedimentology, Vol. 49, Issue 5
Taphonomy of the middle Cambrian (Drumian) Ravens Throat River Lagerstätte, Rockslide Formation, Mackenzie Mountains, Northwest Territories, Canada
journal, July 2015
- Kimmig, Julien; Pratt, Brian R.
- Lethaia, Vol. 49, Issue 2
Coprolites in mid-Cambrian (Series 2-3) Burgess Shale-type deposits of Nevada and Utah and their ecological implications
journal, September 2017
- Kimmig, J.; Strotz, L. C.
- Bulletin of Geosciences
New eocrinoids from the Burgess Shale, southern British Columbia, Canada, and the Spence Shale, northern Utah, USA
journal, March 2006
- Sprinkle, James; Collins, Desmond
- Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, Vol. 43, Issue 3
A new hypothesis for organic preservation of Burgess Shale taxa in the middle Cambrian Wheeler Formation, House Range, Utah
journal, May 2005
- Gaines, Robert R.; Kennedy, Martin J.; Droser, Mary L.
- Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, Vol. 220, Issue 1-2
Paleoecology of the Greater Phyllopod Bed community, Burgess Shale
journal, February 2008
- Caron, Jean-Bernard; Jackson, Donald A.
- Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, Vol. 258, Issue 3
Extensive bioturbation in a middle Cambrian Burgess Shale–type fossil Lagerstätte in northwestern Canada
journal, January 2019
- Pratt, Brian R.; Kimmig, Julien
- Geology, Vol. 47, Issue 3
Caryosyntrips : a radiodontan from the Cambrian of Spain, USA and Canada
journal, August 2017
- Pates, Stephen; Daley, Allison C.
- Papers in Palaeontology, Vol. 3, Issue 3
The Fezouata fossils of Morocco; an extraordinary record of marine life in the Early Ordovician
journal, July 2015
- Van Roy, Peter; Briggs, Derek E. G.; Gaines, Robert R.
- Journal of the Geological Society, Vol. 172, Issue 5
A new Metazoan from the Middle Cambrian of utah and the Nature of the Vetulicolia: a new Cambrian Metazoan from utah
journal, July 2005
- Briggs, Derek E. G.; Lieberman, Bruce S.; Halgedahl, Susan L.
- Palaeontology, Vol. 48, Issue 4
A restudy of Utahcaris orion (Euarthropoda) from the Spence Shale (Middle Cambrian, Utah, USA)
journal, August 2016
- Legg, David A.; Pates, Steve
- Geological Magazine, Vol. 154, Issue 1
The role of anoxia in the decay and mineralization of proteinaceous macro-fossils
journal, January 1988
- Allison, Peter A.
- Paleobiology, Vol. 14, Issue 2
High-resolution geochemical evidence for oxic bottom waters in three Cambrian Burgess Shale-type deposits
journal, December 2015
- Kloss, Tristan J.; Dornbos, Stephen Q.; Chen, Jun-Yuan
- Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, Vol. 440
Early fossil record of Euarthropoda and the Cambrian Explosion
journal, May 2018
- Daley, Allison C.; Antcliffe, Jonathan B.; Drage, Harriet B.
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 115, Issue 21
Dynamic palaeoredox and exceptional preservation in the Cambrian Spence Shale of Utah: Exceptional preservation in the Spence Shale
journal, April 2011
- Garson, Daniel E.; Gaines, Robert R.; Droser, Mary L.
- Lethaia, Vol. 45, Issue 2
Geophysical and geological signatures of relative sea level change in the upper Wheeler Formation, Drum Mountains, West-Central Utah: A perspective into exceptional preservation of fossils
journal, June 2009
- Halgedahl, S. L.; Jarrard, R. D.; Brett, C. E.
- Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, Vol. 277, Issue 1-2
Declining volatility, a general property of disparate systems: from fossils, to stocks, to the stars: DECLINING VOLATILITY
journal, February 2013
- Lieberman, Bruce S.; Melott, Adrian L.
- Palaeontology, Vol. 56, Issue 6
A superarmored lobopodian from the Cambrian of China and early disparity in the evolution of Onychophora
journal, June 2015
- Yang, Jie; Ortega-Hernández, Javier; Gerber, Sylvain
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 112, Issue 28
New Approaches to Understanding the Mechanics of Burgess Shale-type Deposits: From the Micron Scale to the Global Picture
journal, June 2005
- Gaines, Robert R.; Droser, Mary L.
- The Sedimentary Record, Vol. 3, Issue 2
A new soft-bodied fauna: The Pioche Formation of Nevada
journal, July 2003
- Lieberman, Bruce S.
- Journal of Paleontology, Vol. 77, Issue 4
Caryosyntrips: a radiodontan from the Cambrian of Spain, USA and Canada
text, January 2017
- Pates, Stephen; Daley, Allison
- PaleorXiv
Hurdiid radiodontans from the middle Cambrian (Series 3) of Utah
text, January 2018
- Pates, Stephen; Daley, Allison; Lieberman, Bruce
- PaleorXiv
Exceptionally Preserved Fossil Assemblages Through Geologic time and Space
conference, January 2016
- Muscente, A. Drew; Laflamme, Marc; Schiffbauer, James D.
- GSA Annual Meeting in Denver, Colorado, USA - 2016, Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs
Works referencing / citing this record:
New exceptionally preserved panarthropods from the Drumian Wheeler Konservat‐Lagerstätte of the House Range of Utah
journal, April 2020
- Lerosey‐Aubril, Rudy; Kimmig, Julien; Pates, Stephen
- Papers in Palaeontology
Soft-bodied fossils from the upper Valongo Formation (Middle Ordovician: Dapingian-Darriwilian) of northern Portugal
journal, May 2019
- Kimmig, Julien; Couto, Helena; Leibach, Wade W.
- The Science of Nature, Vol. 106, Issue 5-6
First occurrence of the Cambrian arthropod Sidneyia Walcott, 1911 outside of Laurentia
journal, August 2019
- Sun, Zhixin; Zeng, Han; Zhao, Fangchen
- Geological Magazine, Vol. 157, Issue 3