What is Charles Doolittle Walcott?
{{Infobox scientist | name = Charles D. Walcott | image = Charles Walcott.jpg | birth_date = March 31, 1850 | birth_place = New York Mills, [[New York State]], [[United States|USA]] | death_date = February 9, 1927 (aged 76) | death_place = [[Washington, DC]], [[United States|USA]] | nationality = [[United States]] | field = [[Paleontology]] | work_institutions = [[US Geological Survey]] <br/>[[Smithsonian Institution]] | prizes = Mary Clark Thompson Medal (1921) }} [[File:Charles Doolittle Walcott (1850-1927), Sidney Stevens Walcott (1892-1977), and Helen Breese Walcott (1894-1965).jpg|thumb|300px|Charles excavates the Burgess Shale (near Field, British Columbia) with his wife and son, in the quarry which now bears his name.]] '''Charles Doolittle Walcott''' (March 31, 1850 – February 9, 1927) was an [[Americans|American]] [[geologist]] and [[invertebrate]] [[paleontologist]]. He became known for his discovery in 1909 of well-preserved [[fossil]]s in the [[Burgess Shale]] of [[British Columbia]], [[Canada]]. Walcott became Director of the [[U.S. Geological Survey]] 1894–1907, and Secretary of the [[Smithsonian Institution]], 1907–1927. He discovered a number of important fossil sites. At the Walcott Quarry, the lowest (earliest) of the Burgess Shale deposits, Walcott collected 65,000 specimens between 1910 and 1924. The site dates to the Middle [[Cambrian]], and is in the [[Canada|Canadian]] [[Rocky Mountains|Rockies]].<ref>Yochelson E.L. 1996. Discovery, collection, and description of the Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale biota by Charles Doolittle Walcott. ''Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society'' '''140''', #4: 469–545.</ref> The Walcott-Rust quarry is near [[Russia, New York]]. This site has produced some of the best preserved [[trilobite]]s ever found, including enrolled specimens with soft body parts. == References == {{Reflist}} * {{Cite book | author = Yochelson, Ellis L. | title = Charles Doolittle Walcott, Pa