Burgess Shale

fossils · ancient life · Canada

Rocky mountain deposit. The Burgess Shale is found in the Canadian Rockies of British Columbia. It's a special layer of rock that sits high up in the mountains today, even though it formed at the bottom of an ancient ocean.

Soft parts saved. Most fossils only show us hard bones and shells, but the Burgess Shale preserved the squishy parts too, like muscles, guts, and eyeballs. This makes it incredibly valuable because we can see what these creatures really looked like.

505 million years old. The Burgess Shale formed during the Cambrian Period, when life in the oceans was just beginning to get wild and diverse. It's one of the oldest fossil beds that shows us such amazing detail about ancient creatures.

Strange sea animals. The creatures found here are nothing like animals today. Some had strange armor, others had lots of legs, and some looked like aliens, making this one of the most exciting windows into Earth's deep past.

Scientists' goldmine. Paleontologists treasure the Burgess Shale because it teaches us more about early evolution than almost any other fossil site in the world.