◄ Carnets Geol. 24 (11)
Outline:
[1. Introduction]
[2. The Brdlavka locality]
[3. The re-discovered trilobite specimen]
[4. Conclusions]
[Bibliographic references]
and ...
[Appendices]
Charles University, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Institute of Geology and Palaeontology,
Albertov 6, CZ-128 43, Prague 2 (Czech Republic)
Published online in final form (pdf) on October 31, 2024
DOI 10.2110/carnets.2024.2411
[Editor:
Brian Pratt; technical editor: Bruno R.C. Granier]
This extraordinary specimen, a well-preserved articulated thorax of a large specimen of the middle Cambrian paradoxidid trilobite Paradoxides (Hydrocephalus) minor (Boeck, 1827), was collected by the notable geologist František Pošepný during an excursion to the Hřebeny mountain range, Czech Republic, in the 1890s, and was thought to have been lost for nearly 140 years. The trilobite originates from the Brdlavka locality, one of the easternmost outcrops of the Jince Formation. There is no fossil collected at this locality housed in institutional and private collections. The recent discovery of this fossil in the Geological Pavilion of the Technical University of Ostrava, Czech Republic, enabled its assignment to the common species Paradoxides (Hydrocephalus) minor (Boeck, 1827). This species confirms the occurrence of the middle levels of the middle Cambrian Jince Formation at the Brdlavka locality.
• František Pošepný;
• paleontology;
• Cambrian trilobite;
• Drumian;
• Barrandian area;
• Příbram-Jince Basin;
• Czech Republic
Fatka O. (2024).- Extraordinary trilobite collected by František Pošepný discovered after 140 years.- Carnets Geol., Madrid, vol. 24, no. 11, p. 173-178.
Un trilobite extraordinaire récolté par František Pošepný redécouvert 140 ans plus tard.- Cet exemplaire exceptionnel, un thorax articulé bien préservé d'un grand spécimen du trilobite paradoxididé du Cambrien moyen, Paradoxides (Hydrocephalus) minor (Boeck, 1827), avait été récolté par le célčbre géologue František Pošepný lors d'une excursion dans la chaîne de montagnes Hřebeny, en République tchčque, dans les années 1890. Puis, pendant prčs de 140 ans, il a été considéré comme perdu. Ce trilobite provient du site de Brdlavka, l'un des affleurements les plus orientaux de la Formation de Jince. Aucun autre fossile récolté dans cette localité n'est présent dans des collections institutionnelles ou privées. La découverte récente de ce fossile dans le Pavillon géologique de l'Université Technique d'Ostrava, en République tchčque, a permis de l'attribuer ŕ Paradoxides (Hydrocephalus) minor (Boeck, 1827). Cette espčce commune confirme la présence des niveaux moyens de la Formation de Jince du Cambrien moyen sur le site de Brdlavka.
• František Pošepný ;
• paléontologie ;
• Trilobite cambrien ;
• Drumien ;
• région barrandienne ;
• bassin
de Příbram-Jince ;
• République
tchčque
František Pošepný (see § Appendix
1) is mainly remembered as the
author of The Genesis of Ore Deposits, a globally accepted innovative
theory on the origin of ore deposits (Pošepný, 1894). It is assumed
that this study was largely based on Pošepný's lectures delivered when
he headed the School of Economic Geology at the Mining College at Příbram
(see
§ Appendix 2)
between 1879 and 1889 (Votrubec, 1986: p. 36). In 1889, Pošepný retired and moved to Vienna (Austro-Hungarian
Empire, now Austria). In 1895, Pošepný published a comprehensive titled
study Beitrag zur Kenntniss der montangeologischen Verhältnisse von Přibram,
in which he summarized knowledge of the geology of the mining area of the Příbram
ore field (see § Appendix 3). In this contribution, Pošepný
(1895: p. 654) briefly mentioned the presence of the 'Jinecer Schiefer' (= Jince
Formation) NE of the municipality of Čenkov and listed the forested areas
of Komorsko lodge and Písek Hill as places where the formation occurs (Fig.
1B 
).
Pošepný (1895) reported a specimen of a paradoxidid trilobite between Malá Baba and Studený hills in the area of the Brdlavka spring that he collected during an excursion with professors Jan Krejčí (see § Appendix 4) and Karl Feistmantel (see § Appendix 5). The year of this excursion was not specified by Pošepný, but it can be approximately estimated, as Pošepný worked at the Mining College at Příbram between 1879 and 1889 and Feistmantel died in 1885. Consequently, the excursion must have occurred between 1879 and 1885. The destiny of this trilobite specimen was unknown, and it was thought to have been lost during several relocations of university collections during the 20th century. In 2023, this extraordinary trilobite was re-discovered in the Geological Pavilion of the Technical University of Ostrava, Czech Republic.
In German: "Barrande ist ihnen in dem Thale des Chumava-Baches zum letztenmale begegnet, und bei einer gemeinschaftlich mit J. Krejči und K. Feistmantel unternommenen Excursion fand ich einige Findlinge im Oberlaufe des nach Hostomic fliesenden Baches zwischen den Berg Malá Baba und Studeny in der Höhe der Brdlavka genannten Quelle. In dem einem Findling fanden wir einen schönen Paradoxiden, den ich der bergakademischen Sammlung von Přibram einverleibt habe" [Translation: "Barrande met them (= strata of the Jince Formation) for the last time in the valley of the Chumava stream, and during an excursion undertaken together with J. Krejčí and K. Feistmantel I found several erratic boulders in the upper course of the stream flowing to Hostomic between the Malá Baba and Studeny hills at the height of the spring called Brdlavka. In one of the boulders we found a nice (beautiful) Paradoxides which I have enclosed (added) to the mining academy collection of Příbram"].
The goal of this contribution is to describe, classify and illustrate the trilobite specimen and to discuss its importance for the stratigraphic position of the Brdlavka locality.
|
Figure 1:
Map and
stratigraphy; A) Czech Republic with the position of the Barrandian area
and the Příbram-Jince Basin; B) schematic geological map of the Hřebeny
mountain range with the location of the Brdlavka locality (adapted after Havlíček,
1971); C) stratigraphy of the Cambrian System with the ranges of the
Jince Formation and the trilobite Paradoxides (Hydrocephalus) minor
(Boeck, 1827) (map adapted after Havlíček, 1971,
stratigraphy adapted from https://www.stratigraphy.org and Fatka et
al., 2004). |
The specimen collected by Pošepný came from the Brdlavka locality
in the Hřebeny mountain range (Fig. 1B ). The forested Hřebeny mountain
range is characterized by gentle slopes that are extensively covered by residual
weathering products. Because of this cover, the Cambrian sediments are generally
quite poorly exposed, and consequently their fossils are also poorly known. The
geology of the area has been more or less exhaustively discussed in more than
twenty contributions, but fossils have been briefly mentioned only in a few
reports.
Barrande (1852: p. 64, 924) was the first to refer to the rocks
of the 'schistes de Ginetz' (= Jince Formation) in the Hřebeny mountain
range. Rocks of this unit were discovered after a long search near the 'moulin
de Zator' (= Zátor mill; Fig. 1B); and the name 'Zator' is also the only
locality name marked in the inserted map (Barrande, 1852: p. 56c). However, two names, 'moulin de Zator' and the 'Mt. Komorsko' (=
Komorsko locality; Fig. 1B ) were mentioned by Barrande
(1852: p. 370-371)
as outcrops that had yielded the trilobite Paradoxides spinosus [actually
Paradoxides (Hydrocephalus) minor (Boeck,
1827)].
According to Chlupáč (1999:
p. 11), Barrande knew that Cambrian fossils occurred in two natural
outcrops in the Hřebeny mountain range; specifically, the Zátor locality
near Velká Bába Hill and the Komorsko locality on the southern slope of Písek
Hill. In addition, Krejčí (1860: p. 467) reported the
presence of the 'vrstvy Jinecké' (= Jince Formation) at 'Zátory' (= Zátor
mill). In the second edition of the book, Krejčí
(1877, p. 391)
mentioned 'Břidlice Jinecké' (= Jince shales) at the 'mlýn Zátor' (= Zátor
mill) and at Komorsko. Krejčí and Feistmantel
(1885: p. 20-21; 1890: p. 14) cited Barrande's report about the
occurrence of trilobites near the 'Mühle Zátor' (= Zátor mill), but did not
provide new information. Similarly, Katzer (1892: p. 811, 812) published
the information that there was an outcrop of the 'Paradoxidenschiefer' (= Jince
Formation) with Cambrian fossils near the 'Zátorer Mühle' (= Zátor mill). Liebus
(1904: p. 325) collected a trilobite pleura and cylindrical ichnofossils near
the locality called 'Brdlavkaquelle'. In a subsequent contribution, Liebus
(1913: p. 759) repeated the earlier published information about several outcrops
of the Jince Formation, particularly at Komorsko and Písek Hill, 'Brdlavkaquelle',
Velká and Malá Baba hills, and Studený vrch. In the associated preliminary
geological map, Liebus (1913) illustrated two strips of middle Cambrian
rocks cropping out south of Písek Hill and southeast of Velká and Malá Bába
hills.
Šnajdr (1958: p. 27) reported on test pit JC 36 near the Zátor solitary house on the southeastern slope of Malá Bába Hill; this place is the same as the Brdlavka spring and was assigned to the Stromatocystites pentangularis zone (= Hypagnostus parvifrons zone of Fatka & Szabad, 2014). In a comprehensive review of the Příbram-Jince Basin, Havlíček (1971, Pl. III) illustrated a belt of the Jince Formation ca. 150-600 m wide south of the Písek, Velká Bába and Studený vrch hills; this belt ended on the western slope of Charvát Hill. However, the Brdlavka locality is not named.
A rare sample with remains of an articulated paradoxidid trilobite was collected by František Pošepný from the middle Cambrian Jince Formation in the Hřebeny mountain range. Pošepný (1895: p. 653) wrote that this rare specimen had been deposited in the collection of the Mining College at Příbram (see above). However, the specimen was never studied by palaeontologists, and so has never been described, figured or systematically treated.
The
specimen is housed in the collection at the Geological Pavilion of the Technical
University of Ostrava (see
§ Appendix 6)
under the number TUO Z - 01712 (see § Appendix 7) (Fig. 2A-B ). This pavilion
contains and exhibits mineralogical, petrographic, paleontological, and regional
geological collections as well as collections of mineral resource deposits. The
collection currently comprises more than 78 thousand specimens.
|
Figure 2:
Photographs of
the specimen of the trilobite Paradoxides (Hydrocephalus) minor
(Boeck, 1827) collected and mentioned by Pošepný
(1895:
654), Geological Pavilion of the Technical University of Ostrava, specimen TUO Z
- 01712 and two other specimens. A) external
mould of incomplete thorax; B) detail of the original label glued on
the rock sample; C) internal mould of articulated thorax with pygidium,
CGS MŠ 8586, Jince - Vystrkov locality; D) internal mould of a complete
articulated specimen, CGS MŠ 501, Jince - Ovčín locality, original
figured by Šnajdr (1958: Pl. 23, fig. 15). |
The re-discovered specimen is an external mould of the exoskeleton of a
large late holaspid specimen of Paradoxides (Hydrocephalus) minor
(Boeck, 1827). The trilobite is preserved on the surface of a polygonal
slab of a fine-grained greywacke (Fig. 2A ). The counterpart (= internal mould)
is not preserved.
The original
paper label bearing the locality information
Dědička
les
= heiress forest
u Brdlavky
= at Brdlavka
Hostomi cS
= Hostomice
is glued on the
slab surface near the trilobite (Fig. 2B ).
The preserved specimen comprises twelve articulated middle and posterior
thoracic segments; the cephalon and pygidium are missing (Fig.
2A ). According to
Šnajdr (1958: p. 139-140; 1987), the full thorax of Paradoxides (Hydrocephalus)
minor comprises eighteen segments (Fig. 2D ). In the studied specimen, the
six anterior thoracic segments are not preserved Fig. 2A, C-D ). The complete
exoskeleton is estimated to have had a sagittal length of ca. 150 mm.
Paradoxides (H.) minor ranges through a large part
of the Jince Formation (Fig. 1C ), from the higher levels of the Paradoxides
(Eccaparadoxides) pusillus biozone to the upper levels of the Ellipsocephalus
hoffi-Paradoxides (Rejkocephalus) biozone (see Šnajdr,
1958: p. 140; Fatka et al.,
2004: p. 378).
The trilobite specimen collected by František Pošepný during an excursion together with professors Jan Krejčí and Karl Feistmantel in the Hřebeny mountain range was thought to have been lost during several movements of university collections during the 20th century. This extraordinary specimen re-discovered in 2023 in the collection of the Geological Pavilion of the Technical University of Ostrava is identified as Paradoxides (Hydrocephalus) minor (Boeck, 1827). It is the first fossil collected at this locality, as no fossil remain is housed in institutional and private collection and confirms the occurrence of middle Cambrian Jince Formation at the Brdlavka locality.
Martina Polášková, Collection Manager, and Petr Skupien, head of the Department of Geological Engineering (both Technical University of Ostrava, Czech Republic), are acknowledged for their hospitality, help, and discussions on the material collected by Professor Pošepný. I am grateful to Vojtěch Kovář and Matěj Šilinger (both Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Charles University Prague, Czech Republic) for their help during study of collections at the Technical University of Ostrava in 2023. Petr Budil (Czech Geological Survey Prague, Czech Republic) is acknowledged for consultation and help with photography. Rainer Brocke (Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany) is thanked for his kind translation of the German text. Lucy Muir (Amgueddfa Cymru, UK) is thanked for linguistic improvements to the text. I thank Gerd Geyer (Bayerische Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Germany) and Brian Pratt (University of Saskatchewan, Canada) for their comments on the manuscript that improved the text. This research was supported by the project Cooperatio GEOL of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic.
Barrande J. (1852).- Systęme Silurien du Centre de la Bohęme, lčre Partie, Crustacčs, Trilobites.- 2 volumes, chez l'auteur et éditeur, Prague, Paris, 935 p.
Boeck C.P.B. (1827).- Notiser til Laeren om Trilobiterne.- Magazin for Naturvidenskaberne, Christiania, vol. 1827, no. 1, p. 11-44.
Chlupáč I. (1999).- Barrande's stratigraphic concepts, palaeontological localities and tradition - comparison with the present state.- Journal of the Czech Geological Society, Prague, vol. 44, no. 1-2, p. 3-30.
Fatka O., Kordule V. & Szabad M. (2004).- Stratigraphic distribution of Cambrian fossils in the Příbram-Jince Basin (Barrandian area, Czech Republic).- Senckenbergiana lethaea, Frankfurt am Main, vol. 84, no. 1/2, p. 369-384.
Fatka O. & Szabad M. (2014).- Cambrian biostratigraphy in the Příbram-Jince Basin (Barrandian area, Czech Republic).- Bulletin of Geosciences, Prague, vol. 89, no. 2, p. 413-429.
Havlíček V. (1971).- Stratigraphy of the Cambrian of Central Bohemia.- Sborník geologických Věd, Geologie, Prague, vol. 20, p. 7-52.
Katzer F. (1892).- Geologie von Böhmen, der geognostische Aufbau und die geologische Entwickelung des Landes, mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der Erzvorkommen und der verwendbaren Minerale und Gesteine.- Taussig, 1606 p.
Krejčí J. (1860).- Geologie čili nauka o útvarech zemských se zvláštním ohledem na krajiny českoslovanské (Geology - science about surface with special focus on the Czech and Slovak area).- 1-4 volumes (incomplete), Litomyšl, 510 p. [in Czech].
Krejčí J. (1877).- Geologie čili nauka o útvarech zemských se zvláštním ohledem na krajiny českoslovanské (Geology - science about surface with special focus on the Czech and Slovak area).- 2 edition, Nákladem vlastním, Praha, 1035 p. [in Czech].
Krejčí J. & Feistmantel K. (1885).- Orographisch-geotektonische Übersicht des silurischen Gebietes im mittleren Böhmen.- Archiv für naturwissenschaftliche Landesforschung von Böhmen, Prag, vol. 5, no. 5, p. 1-124.
Krejčí J. & Feistmantel K. (1890).- Orografický a geotektonický přehled území silurského ve středních Čechách (Orographic and geotectonic survey on the Silurian area in central Bohemia).- Archiv pro přírodovědecký výzkum Čech, Praha, vol. 5, no. 5, p. 1-94 [in Czech].
Liebus A. (1904).- Die Z-förmige Umbiegung der Quarzite bei Lochowitz und deren Umgebung.- Verhandlungen der Kaiserlichen-königlichen geologischen Reichsanstalt, Wien, vol. 1904, no. 14, p. 323-326.
Liebus A. (1913).- Geologische Studien am Südostrande des Altpaläozoikums in Mittelböhmen.- Jahrbuch der Kaiserlichen-königlichen geologischen Reichsanstalt, Wien, vol. 63, no. 4, p. 743-776.
Pošepný F. (1894).- The genesis of ore deposits.- Transactions of the American Institute of Mining Engineers, New York City - NY, vol. XXIII, p. 197-369. URL: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044102927035&seq=307
Pošepný F. (1895).- Beitrag zur Kenntniss der montangeologischen Verhältnisse von Přibram.- Archiv für praktische Geologie, Freiberg, vol. 2, p. 609-752.
Šnajdr M. (1958).- Trilobiti českého středního kambria (The trilobites of the Middle Cambrian of Bohemia).- Rozpravy Ústředního Ústavu geologického, Praha, vol. 24, p. 1-280 (Pls. I-XLVI) [in Czech with English summary].
Šnajdr M. (1987).- The genera Paradoxides Brongniart and Hydrocephalus Barrande (Trilobita).- Věstník Ústředního ústavu geologického, Praha, vol. 62, no. 2, p. 97-104.
Votrubec C. (1986).- Life and work of professor František Pošepný. In: Geologist František Pošepný. Sborník prací k 150. Výročí narození Františka Pošepného (1836-1895).- Ústřední Ústav geologický, Praha, p. 33-39.
Appendix 1: Pošepný (30th March 1836 Jilemnice, Austro-Hungarian Empire, now Czech Republic to 27th March 1895 Döbling, Austro-Hungarian Empire, now Austria) studied at the Mining College in Příbram (later the Mining College of Further Education, now the Technical University of Ostrava, Czech Republic), and later at the Prague Polytechnic and the Imperial Geological Institute in Vienna (Austria), where he worked as a mining trainee. He gained experience in mines at various places in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In 1879 he returned to the Mining College in Příbram, where he headed the School of Economic Geology and earned the title of professor. He continued his research in the Příbram district. In 1889 he prematurely retired and moved with his wife to the suburbs of Vienna. There he worked on numerous scientific contributions and conducted a number of scientific tours across Europe and the Middle East.
Pošepný is considered to be the founder of deposit geology, whose findings enabled more efficient extraction of ore. In his magnum opus The Genesis of Ore-Deposits (1894) Pošepný described a new theory of the origin of ore deposits. The theory received great recognition worldwide. In addition to this work, he was the author of more than a hundred other specialized publications, including a study of Příbram and gold-bearing ores in central Bohemia. URL: https://www.hgf.vsb.cz/513/en/collections/profPosepny/
Appendix 2: Mining College at Příbram, later the Mining College of Further Education at Příbram, now the Technical University of Ostrava.
Appendix 3: URL: https://www.poznejpribram.cz/en/hornicke-muzeum-pribram
Appendix 4: Jan Krejčí
(28 February 1825 Klatovy to 1 August 1887 Prague) Czech geologist, journalist
and politician. He wrote the first Czech textbooks on geology in 1860 and 1877.
University professor of mineralogy and geology at the Prague Polytechnic
Institute. He published numerous works in Czech and is rightly considered to be
the "Father of Czech geology" and the foremost Czech natural scientist of
the 19th century.
(for more
information see: URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Krej%C4%8D%C3%AD)
Appendix 5: Karel Feistmantel
(14 February 1819 Praha to 29 September 1885 Praha-Smíchov). Worked at several
steelworks in central Bohemia and studied Paleozoic volcanites and coal seams
and collected fossils. He was member of several scientific societies, including
k.k. Geologischen Raichsanstalt Wien. Published about sixty geological,
paleontological and mineralogical articles. In 1878 he retired, moved to Prague,
and in the following years carried out numerous excursions together with Jan Krejčí.
(for more
information see: URL: http://www.geology.cz/demo/dvd_hm/pgs_eng/autori_id_1977.html)
Appendix 6: URL: https://www.hgf.vsb.cz/513/en/aboutpavilion/
Appendix 7: Abbreviations:
Technical University of Ostrava - TUO
Czech Geological Survey Prague - ČGS
