Emigrant Formation

The Emigrant Formation is a Cambrian to Ordovician geologic formation in Nevada. It preserves fossils dating back to the Cambrian period, as well as the Ordovician period.

Geology

The Emigrant Formation is dominated by shales, with limestone common at the base and top of the formation.

Members

The formation contains three members, which are as follows, in ascending age:

Limestone & Siltstone Member: This member is the thinnest of the three, only getting up to thick in some areas, and is dominated by lime mudstone. At the base of the member, it is entirely composed of shale, which gives way to calcareous sandstone, and then the common lime mudstones above that. Within these lime mudstones, there are occasional layers of more shale and chert.
Shale Member: This member can get up to thick in some areas, and is, as the name suggests, entirely dominated by shale, which may be faulted and repeated in many places.
Limestone & Chert Member: This member is the thickest of the three, getting up to thick in some areas, and contains a mixture of ribbon limestone, inter-bedded shales, as well as mega-breccia.

The Emigrant Formation also contains lower Ordovician aged rocks above the Limestone & Chert Member, informally known as the "Platy Limestone Unit". This unit is primarily composed of fine-grained, platy limestone, which are inter-bedded with pale-red siltstone. The very top of the unit is not preserved, and contacts the overlying Palmetto Formation at a fault, and the unit itself is also difficult to age, although a lower Ordovician age is suggested, though more evidence will be needed to pinpoint the exact age of the unit. It has also been noted that this unit may represent a transitional bed between the Emigrant and Palmetto Formations.

Paleobiota

The biota of the Emigrant Formation is mainly composed of trilobites like Olenellus and Bathyuriscus, as well as some small shelly fauna in the form of Pelagiella and Microcornus. It also contains a sparse collection of fossils from a lower Ordovician unit
right at the top of the formation, containing the chelicerate Esmeraldacaris, as well as some graptolite fauna.

Cambrian

This section details all the fossils from the Cambrian sections of the Emigrant formation.

Lophotrochozoa

Genus	Species	Notes	Images
Microcornus	Microcornus sp.	Lophotrochozoan hyolith.
Parkula	P. esmeraldina	Lophotrochozoan hyolith.
Haplophrentis	H. carinatus	Lophotrochozoan hyolith.
Hyolithellus	Hyolithellus sp.	Lophotrochozoan hyolith. May possibly be an annelid.
Hyolithides	???	Undetermined lophotrochozoan hyoliths, are either preserved as molds, or are too poorly preserved for identification.
Anabarella	A. chelata	Helcionellid mollusc.
Pelagiella	P. subangulata	Pelagiellid mollusc.
Costipelagiella	C. nevadense	Pelagiellid mollusc.

Chancelloriidae

Genus	Species	Notes	Images
Allonia	Allonia sp.	Chancelloriid.
Chancelloria	Chancelloria sp.	Chancelloriid.

Echinodermata

Genus	Species	Notes	Images
Echinoderm Ossicles	???	Calcareous element that makes up the endoskeleton of echinoderms.

Porifera (Sponges)

Genus	Species	Notes	Images
Hexactinellid spicules	???	Sponge skeleton, with six rays.

Flora

Genus	Species	Notes	Images
Archaeooides	A. granulatus	Microalgae.
Girvanella	Girvanella sp.	Cyanobacteria structures.

Ordovician

This section details all the fossils from the Ordovician unit at the top of the Emigrant Formation.

Lophotrochozoa

Genus	Species	Notes	Images
Inarticulate brachiopods	???	Lophotrochozoan brachiopods, poor preservation hinders full identification.

Hemichordata

Genus	Species	Notes	Images
Dictyonema	Dictyonema sp.	Dendroid graptolite.
Clonograptus	Clonograptus sp.	Graptolites.

Porifera (Sponges)

Genus	Species	Notes	Images
Hexactinellid spicules	???	Sponge skeleton.
Tetractinellid spicules	???	Sponge skeleton.

Ichnogenera

Genus	Species	Notes	Images
Branching Trace Fossils	???	Branching traces.