Burgess Shale - Mt. Stephen
This hike has an elevation gain of 780m.
The Mount Stephen Fossil Beds were discovered in 1886, after railway workers reported finding what they called "stone bugs" in the talus on the slopes of Mount Stephen. Many of the species that are found here do not occur at the Walcott Quarry site.
In 1907, Charles Walcott, a New York palaeontologist and head of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, came to the high slopes of Mount Stephen, British Columbia located in Yoho National Park. There he examined the "stone bugs" that railway workers, surveyors and others had come across while working on the Canadian Pacific Railway in the 1880s. The stone bugs turned out to be fossils dating back more than 505 million years. In 1909, he explored another ridge and discovered what became known as the Walcott Quarry.
Did you know?
In 1907, Charles Walcott, a New York palaeontologist and head of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, came to the high slopes of Mount Stephen, British Columbia located in Yoho National Park. There he examined the "stone bugs" that railway workers, surveyors and others had come across while working on the Canadian Pacific Railway in the 1880s. The stone bugs turned out to be fossils dating back more than 505 million years. In 1909, he explored another ridge and discovered what became known as the Walcott Quarry.
Did you know?
- Of the millions of animals on earth today (including insects, spiders, fish, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians) about 95 per cent of them can trace their origin to the Burgess Shale.
- Some Burgess Shale animals showed signs of handedness. Scientists believe that they were among some of the first right- and left-handed creatures on the planet.
- A picture of Mount Burgess in Field, BC was featured for 17 years on the Canadian $10 bill.