FABULOUS FOSSILS— 300 YEARS OF WORLDWIDE RESEARCH ON TRILOBITES JOHANN WALCH (1725–1778) NATURAL PHILOSOPHER, PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGY, AND EARLIEST RESEARCHER ON TRILOBITES Edited by DONALD G. MIKULIC ED LANDING JOANNE KLUESSENDORF ii THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK Regents of The University ROBERT M. BENNETT, Chancellor, B.A., M.S. ...................................................................................................................... Tonawanda ADELAIDE L. SANFORD, Vice Chancellor, B.A., M.A., P.D. ................................................................................................ Hollis SAUL B. COHEN, B.A., M.A., Ph.D. .................................................................................................................................... New Rochelle JAMES C. DAWSON, A.A., B.A., M.S., Ph.D. ...................................................................................................................... Peru ANTHONY S. BOTTAR, B.A., J.D. .......................................................................................................................................... North Syracuse MERRYL H. TISCH, B.A., M.A. Ed.D. ................................................................................................................................. New York GERALDINE D. CHAPEY, B.A., M.A., Ed.D. ....................................................................................................................... Belle Harbor ARNOLD B. GARDNER, B.A., LL.B. ...................................................................................................................................... Buffalo HARRY PHILLIPS, 3rd, B.A., M.S.F.S. .................................................................................................................................. Hartsdale JOSEPH E. BOWMAN, JR., B.A., M.L.S., M.A., M.Ed., Ed.D. .............................................................................................Albany LORRAINE A. CORTÉS-VÁZQUEZ, B.A., M.P.A. ................................................................................................................... Bronx JAMES R. TALLON, JR., B.A., M.A. ...................................................................................................................................... Binghamton MILTON L. COFIELD, B.S., M.B.A., Ph.D. ........................................................................................................................... Rochester JOHN BRADEMAS, B.A., Ph.D. ............................................................................................................................................. New York ROGER B. TILLES, B.A., J.D. ................................................................................................................................................. Great Neck KAREN BROOKS HOPKINS, B.A., M.F.A. ............................................................................................................................. Brooklyn President of The University and Commissioner of Education RICHARD P. M ILLS Deputy Commissioner for Cultural Education CAROLE F. HUXLEY Director of the New York State Museum CLIFFORD A. SIEGFRIED Director, Research and Collections Division JOHN P. H ART The State Education Department does not discriminate on the basis of age, color, religion, creed, disability, marital status, veteran status, national origin, race, gender, genetic predisposition or carrier status, or sexual orientation in its educational programs, services and activities. Portions of this publication can be made available in a variety of formats, including braille, large print or audio tape, upon request. Inquiries concerning this policy of nondiscrimination should be directed to the Department’s Office for Diversity, Ethics, and Access, Room 530, Education Building, Albany, NY 12234. Requests for additional copies of this publication may be made by contacting Publications Sales, Room 3140, Cultural Education Center, New York State Museum, Albany, NY 12230. FABULOUS FOSSILS— 300 YEARS OF WORLDWIDE RESEARCH ON TRILOBITES Edited by DONALD G. MIKULIC Illinois State Geological Survey, 615 East Peabody Drive, Champaign, Illinois 61820 ED LANDING New York State Museum, The State Education Department, Albany, New York 12230 JOANNE KLUESSENDORF Weis Earth Science Museum, University of Wisconsin-FoxValley, 1478 Midway Road, Menasha, Wisconsin 54952 New York State Museum Bulletin 507 2007 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT iv © 2007 The New York State Education Department Printed in the United States of America Copies may be ordered from: Publication Sales New York State Museum Albany, New York 12230 Phone: (518) 402-5344 Fax: (518) 486-2034 web address: http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/publications/ Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2006927626 ISSN: 0278-3355 ISBN: 1-55557-235-9 This book is printed on acid-free paper. v CONTENTS FABULOUS FOSSILS—300 YEARS OF WORLDWIDE RESEARCH ON TRILOBITES: AN INTRODUCTION . 1 Ed Landing ROLE OF MALFORMATIONS IN ELUCIDATING TRILOBITE PALEOBIOLOGY: A HISTORICAL SYNTHESIS . 3 Loren Babcock THE TRILOBITE WORLD OF J. W. DALMAN . 21 Jan Bergström TRILOBITES, CINCINNATI, AND THE “CINCINNATI SCHOOL OF PALEONTOLOGY” . 29 Danita S. Brandt and Richard Arnold Davis HISTORY OF TRILOBITE RESEARCH IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC . 51 Jana Bruthansová, Oldrich Fatka, Petr Budil, and Jirí Král TRILOBITE RESEARCH IN SOUTH KOREA DURING THE 20TH CENTURY . .81 Duck K. Choi HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF TRILOBITE RESEARCH IN BRAZIL . 97 Renato Pirani Ghilardi and Marcello Guimarães Simões AUSTRALIAN TRILOBITE STUDIES . 105 Peter A. Jell WALCH’S TRILOBITE RESEARCH—A TRANSLATION OF HIS 1771 TRILOBITE CHAPTER . 115 Robert Kihm and James St. John LEGACY OF THE LOCUST—DUDLEY AND ITS FAMOUS TRILOBITE CALYMENE BLUMENBACHII . 141 Donald G. Mikulic and Joanne Kluessendorf HISTORICAL REVIEW OF TRILOBITE RESEARCH IN CHINA . 171 Shanchi Peng BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES ON SUN YUNZHU (1895–1979) LU YANHAO (1913–2003) . 193 Shanchi Peng THE EARLIEST TRILOBITE RESEARCH (ANTIQUITY TO THE 1820S) . 201 James St. John NIGHTMARE ON RESSER STREET—DEALING WITH RESSER’S TRILOBITE TAXONOMY . 213 Frederick A. Sundberg REFLECTIONS ON THE CLASSIFICATION OF TRILOBITA . 225 Harry B. Whittington CHARLES DOOLITTLE WALCOTT AND TRILOBITE APPENDAGES (1873–1881) . 231 Ellis L. Yochelson vi FABULOUS FOSSILS—300 YEARS OF WORLDWIDE RESEARCH ON TRILOBITES: INTRODUCTION ED LANDING New York State Museum, Madison Avenue, Albany, New York 12230 [email protected] As technical and general editor of this collection of these particularly pertinent to trilobite systematics (Bergström, reports on the history of trilobite research, it is truly a delight Bruthansová et al.). The contributions of the gifted amateur, to turn this collection over to the printer. Of course, it is relief some of whom became renowned paleontologists (Brant and to have finished checking everything from the correct use of Davies) whether or not they had any formal training in geolo- n-dashes vs hyphens to whether or not current stratigraphic gy or paleontology (see Yochelson), were important in the 19th designations have been used in the manuscripts. But more century. The small world of paleontologic research and the importantly, this collection of fifteen papers is a significant important role of a very few men, yes, this was a male domi- contribution to the history of science, in general, and to the his- nated pursuit then, and the New York State Museum (NYSM) tory of trilobite paleontology, in particular. in the 19th century, is seen in a number of these papers. Indeed, At the beginning of the 21st century, trilobite research has the young Walcott, then an NYSM employee visited Hartt become perhaps the most dynamic subdiscipline of inverte- (who first studied New Brunswick and Brazilian trilobites) in brate paleontology. Research on the group ranges from its tra- Saint John, New Brunswick, as well as members of the ditional systematic and biostratigraphic focus to applications “Cincinnati School” at about the time he discovered the first in paleogeographic reconstructions and evolutionary theory. incontrovertible evidence for arthropod limbs (papers by The complexity, beauty, and mystery of trilobite fossils has Yochelson, Ghilardi and Simões, Brandt and Davies). Walcott long been appreciated by Paleolithic and pre-modern peoples left the NYSM for the U.S. Geological Survey and made a (St. John and Peng [history of Chinese trilobite research]), This major contribution to Chinese trilobite research and later, for appreciation of trilobites is still reflected by the high prices that better or for worse, hired Resser as the Survey’s trilobite pale- well-preserved and –prepared trilobites are sold for in the ontologist (Yochelson and Sundberg reports), while John early and modern commercial fossil trade (see Mikulic and Mason Clarke, then Director of the NYSM, went to Brazil, and Kleussendorf). However, it is only with the “European played an important role in documenting Devonian high lati- Enlightenment” that trilobite fossils were first fit into interpre- tude trilobites (Ghilardi and Simões). tations of the “Scala naturae,” although even Edward Lhwyd’s Modern trilobite research is a more truly international sci- first published illustrations of trilobites at the end of the 1600s ence with the development of native-born national specialists only compared them to the forms of living organisms, but still