Editing Burgess Shale (section)

== Working with the Burgess Shale ==

The fossils of the Burgess Shale are preserved as black carbon films on black shales, and so are difficult to photograph; however, various photographic techniques can improve the quality of the images that can be acquired.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Bengtson|first=Stefan|title=Teasing Fossils out of Shales with Cameras and Computers|journal=Palaeontologia Electronica|year=2000|volume=3|issue=1|url=http://palaeo-electronica.org/2000_1/fossils/text.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://palaeo-electronica.org/2000_1/fossils/text.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|access-date=3 December 2010}}</ref> Other techniques include backscatter SEM, elemental mapping and ''[[camera lucida]]'' drawing.

Once images have been acquired, the effects of decay and [[taphonomy]] must be accounted for before a correct anatomical reconstruction can be made. A consideration of the combination of characters allows researchers to establish the taxonomic affinity.