The Emu Bay Shale Lagerstätte: a history of investigations

Abstract

The early Cambrian (Cambrian Series 2, Stage 4) Emu Bay Shale Lagerstätte of Kangaroo Island, South Australia is significant because it represents the best Burgess Shale type fauna in the southern hemisphere. Although the original locality near Big Gully occurs in coastal outcrops with large (up to 25 cm long) examples of the trilobite Redlichia takooensis on bedding planes, it was not discovered until 1954 by Brian Daily; this was largely due to difficulties of access. The first taxonomic paper was not produced until 1979, after which work on the Lagerstätte was intermittent, with a substantial theft of fossils from the coastal locality occurring in 1991. In 2007, excavation commenced at a new inland site. This has yielded over 50 species, including some not known from the original locality. Taxonomic papers dealing with the new locality are now being published.