Fossils at Paris, France Landmarks

While vacationing in Paris, France I kept my eyes open to see if I could spot any hint of fossils in the building materials used to construct the urban landscape. I did not know what to expect since I am not familiar with the geology of France except for occasional visits to some very nice French websites on trilobites or fossilized plants.

It came as a pleasant surprise to find a lot of remnants of fossils in the large capping stones that make up the walls around the Siene River that flows near Notre Dame Cathedral and St. Michel Fountain in the city. The rock usually has a lot of empty cavities of where the fossil shell once existed. Spiral gastropods seems to have been the most common fossil in the large rock slabs used.




Here are some pictures of gastropod fossils from the National Museum of Natural History in the Gallery of Comparative Anatomy & Paleontology. This spirally snails are called Potamides lapidum. Maybe they are the species in the rock used to create the containment walls for the Siene River going through Paris?


The next two pictures of a gastropod fossil slab with the fossil cavities and a casting showing the shell shapes. There was a text in French describing it saying this:
Plaque de Calcaire siliceux avec moules externes de Potamides submargaritaceus BRAUN. Le moulage en plâtre montre la morphologie réele des individus. Oligocène, Aix (B. -du -Rh.)

A Google translation reveals this which might have taken some words out of context:
Siliceous limestone plate with mussels external Potamida submargaritaceus BRAUN. The plaster cast shows the morphology of real people. Oligocene, Aix (Bouches-du-Rh.)

Cambrian Trilobite Ogygopsis klotzi

Here is the Ogygopsis klotzi (named by Carl Rominger in 1887) trilobite on display at the Muséum National D'Historie Naturelle Jardin Des Plantes, Paléontologie et Anatomie Comparée in Paris, France. It can be found in the display cases on the second level in the trilobite section.

The creature is from the Middle Cambrian Period (French: Cambrien moyen) and was found in British Columbia, Canada. I think the label says it was found on Mount Stephen or maybe it means Stephen Formation. See this web page on the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University on the trilobite specimen they have. Theirs is from the Burgess Shale if I read that right.

The book, Life in Stone: A Natural History of British Columbia's Fossils by Rolf Ludvigsen, talks about this trilobite in the chapter The Trilobite Beds of Mount Stephen on page 61. He mentions that Charles Walcott in 1908 found so many of this species in the trilobite beds that he named the unit 'Ogygopsis Shales'. The trilobite reached of size of 12 cm so it was easy to spot and collect. As a result, many museums and universities worldwide obtained specimens. I am guessing the one in this picture was one of them. The author goes on to say that this trilobite became somewhat of an archetype of Cambrian trilobites even though it is rarely found elsewhere in the world. Learn more at this web link to the book.

Burgess Shale Fossils

In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Burgess Shale fossils being discovered, here are 3 images of some of those fossils on display at Muséum National D'Historie Naturelle Jardin Des Plantes Paléontologie et Anatomie Comparée in Paris, France. Looking at their labels they appeared to have been collected in 1937-1938. They are on display on the 2nd level of the museum in the invertebrate fossil section (maybe the crustaceans area next to the trilobites).

The famous American paleontologist Charles Walcott discovered this landmark on August 30, 1909 in British Columbia, Canada. Thanks to geology.com for bringing this date to my attention. You can learn more about the Burgess Shale and its fossils at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. at their website.

Disclaimer: I had to take these images through a display case that did not provide the best of lighting conditions. Also since these fossils are black on a dark gray background in addition to being flatten thus making them 2-dimensional it is hard to get a good image.


The arthropod Waptia fieldensis that sort of looks like today's shrimp. Its genus name comes from Mount Wapta near the fossil bed in Canada while its species name reflects a town local to the site named Field. Learn more at this Smithsonian Institution web page.


Here is a Burgess Shale trilobite, though when first discovered by Charles Walcott he did not realize it. He classified it as a Crustacea instead and called it Naraoia compacta. It was later to be determined a trilobite by Professor Harry Whittington (Harvard University & Cambridge University till 1983). The genus name comes from Nareo lakes in British Columbia, Canada. See this Smithsonian web page for more information about this trilobite.

This last fossil is called Burgessia bella that is phylum Arthropoda and Class Trilobitoidea. See some better pictures at the Fossil Mall web page