What is the name of the Cambrian fossil deposit in British Columbia?

The Cambrian fossil deposit in British Columbia is the Burgess Shale. It is exposed in the Canadian Rockies, mainly within Yoho National Park, and is famous for preserving soft-bodied animals as well as shells and skeletons.

The deposit formed about 505 million years ago during the Middle Cambrian, when the area lay beneath a marine environment. Fine sediment rapidly buried animals on the sea floor, helping preserve delicate features such as limbs, gills, eyes, and digestive tracts that rarely fossilize.

The Burgess Shale was discovered in 1909 by Charles Doolittle Walcott, who collected thousands of specimens. Its fossils revealed a remarkably diverse ancient ecosystem, including the spiny predator Wiwaxia, the stem arthropod Opabinia, and the abundant trilobite Olenoides.

“Burgess Shale” can refer both to the original fossil-bearing deposit and, more broadly, to related Cambrian fossil communities in the region. It is also described as a Lagerstätte, a technical term for an exceptionally preserved fossil deposit—not an alternative name for the site.