Taphonomy
Specimens of Waptia fieldensis were recovered from the Burgess Shale Lagerstätte of Canada, which dates from the Middle Cambrian period (510 to 505 million years ago). The locality was once about 200 m (660 ft) underwater; it was located at the bottom of a warm and shallow tropical sea adjacent to a submarine limestone cliff (now the Cathedral Limestone Formation). Undersea landslides caused by the collapse of parts of the limestone cliff would periodically bury the organisms in the area (as well as organisms carried by the landslides) in fine-grained mud that later became shale.
Based on the number of individuals, Waptia fieldensis constitutes about 2.55% of the total number of organisms recovered from the Burgess Shale, and 0.86% of the Greater Phyllopod bed. This makes them the third most abundant arthropods of the Burgess Shale (after Marrella and Canadaspis). The National Museum of Natural History alone houses more than a thousand specimens of the species from the Burgess Shale. Waptia fieldensis are often found disarticulated, with parts remaining in close proximity to each other.
Several possible specimens of W. fieldensis were also recovered from the Middle Cambrian Spence Shale member of the Langston Formation in Utah in 2008.
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