15TH BCPA PALEONTOLOGICAL SYMPOSIUM: COURTENAY, BRITISH COLUMBIA

SAVE THE DATE: 15th British Columbia Paleontological Symposium

Florence Filberg Centre, 411 Anderton Avenue, Courtenay, British Columbia, on the Traditional Territory of the K’ómoks First Nation, August 22-25, 2025

CELEBRATING THE PALEONTOLOGICAL BOUNTY OF THE COMOX VALLEY

The conference features over a dozen speakers in paleontology from Vancouver Island, mainland British Columbia, and beyond. 

This year, we’re celebrating Courtenay’s own Traskasaura sandrae—a 12-metre-long marine elasmosaur discovered by Mike Trask along the Puntledge River. The fossil was recently named in the Journal of Systematic Paleontology, earning international recognition.

Traskasaura sandrae is a newly identified genus and species of elasmosaurid plesiosaur, a long-necked marine reptile, discovered in British Columbia, Canada. 

The fossil, found along the Puntledge River on Vancouver Island, are from the Late Cretaceous (Santonian age), roughly 86 to 84 million years ago. Traskasaura sandrae is notable for its robust teeth, potentially adapted for crushing ammonites, and a unique mix of primitive and derived skeletal features, suggesting it was a powerful predator adapted for diving. 

As well as highlighting this significant find and honouring the amazing life of Mike Trask, the symposium has an exciting lineup of scientific presentations, hands-on workshops, a paleontology-themed art exhibition, poster presentations, and guided field trips. 

These events provide exciting opportunities to explore and celebrate the rich geological and paleontological history of Vancouver Island, bringing together world-renowned paleontologists, citizen scientists, fossil enthusiasts, researchers, artists, and the public in a vibrant exchange of ideas and inspiration.

Our Keynote Speaker is Dr. Kirk Johnson, Sant Director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, where he oversees the world's largest natural history collection. 

As a field paleontologist, he has led expeditions in eighteen US states and eleven countries with a research focus on fossil plants and the extinction of the dinosaurs. He is known for his scientific articles, popular books, museum exhibitions, documentaries, and collaborations with artists.

BRITISH COLUMBIA PALEONTOLOGICAL ALLIANCE (BCPA)

The British Columbia Paleontological Alliance (BCPA) is a collaborative network of organisations led by professional and citizen scientists, working to advance the science of paleontology in the province. 

Together, they promote fossil research and discovery through public education, responsible scientific collecting, and open communication among paleontologists, citizen scientists, fossil enthusiasts, researchers, and educators.

Every two years, the BCPA hosts a Paleontological Symposium, bringing together experts and the public from across Canada, North America, and beyond to share the latest research and discoveries related to British Columbia's fossil heritage.  To learn more, visit www.bcfossils.ca.

VANCOUVER ISLAND PALEONTOLOGICAL SOCIETY (HOST ORGANIZATION):

This year, the Vancouver Island Paleontological Society (VIPS) is proud to host the 15th BCPA Symposium in Courtenay, in partnership with the Courtenay and District Museum & Palaeontology Centre. 

Founded in 1992 and based in the Comox Valley, VIPS is a nonprofit society with charitable status in good standing dedicated to fostering public engagement with the natural world through field trips, workshops, symposia, and public lectures that bring science to life for the community. 

COMMUNITY SPONSORSHIP, SILENT AUCTION ITEMS & WELCOME BAGS: 

As host, the VIPS is currently welcoming sponsorship contributions and donations for the symposium's silent auction to help us offset conference costs, including printing, venue rental, catering, insurance, and participant support. We are also seeking items to include in our Welcome Bags for conference attendees, offering an excellent opportunity to showcase local businesses and community spirit. 

Sponsors will be publicly recognised at the conference, within the Courtenay and District Museum, and across our social media platforms. Tax receipts are available for eligible donations.

Sponsorship cheques made out to the Vancouver Island Paleontological Society can be mailed to 930 Sandpines Drive, Comox, BC, V9M 3V3. Attn: 15th BCPA Symposium 2025.

We would be honoured to have your support—your contribution would bring meaningful value to this exciting scientific event. If you have an item to donate to our silent auction or to include in our Welcome Bags, we would be sincerely grateful and can arrange for convenient pickup. 

To get involved or learn more, please contact us at bcpaleo.events@gmail.com—we’d love to hear from you! 

Warm regards on behalf of the 15th BCPA Organising Committee.

ROBIN O'KEEFE: VANCOUVER ISLAND'S ELASMOSAURS

The ancient seas of the Mesozoic teemed with leviathans—fanged predators, armoured fish, and sleek marine reptiles. 

Among them, the elasmosaurs were some of the most striking: long-necked plesiosaurs with serpent-like grace and formidable predatory adaptations. 

Few scientists have done more to illuminate the biology and evolution of these marine reptiles than Dr. F. Robin O’Keefe. 

A vertebrate paleontologist at Marshall University, O’Keefe’s research has ranged across marine reptile phylogeny, functional morphology, and evolutionary innovation. 

O'Keefe will be sharing his research at the 15th BCPA Symposium in Courtenay, August 22-25, 2025.

In recent years, his work has helped to reshape our understanding of elasmosaurs, particularly those found in the fossil-rich rocks of Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

Elasmosaurs (Family: Elasmosauridae) were marine reptiles that thrived during the Late Cretaceous period. Their most distinctive feature was their astonishingly long necks, which in some species accounted for over half their body length. These creatures likely hunted small fish and squid-like cephalopods, using stealth and rapid strikes to seize prey.

Though long thought of as slow-moving and awkward, research led by scientists like O’Keefe suggests a far more dynamic picture—of agile, efficient swimmers with specialized anatomical adaptations.

The Upper Cretaceous marine deposits of Vancouver Island, particularly near the Comox Valley, Courtenay, and Puntledge River areas, are renowned for their abundance of well-preserved marine fossils. These include ammonites, mosasaurs, and notably, elasmosaurs. 

The region is part of the Nanaimo Group, a geologic unit consisting of marine sediments deposited in a forearc basin as the Pacific Plate subducted beneath the North American Plate.

One of the most celebrated finds from this region is a nearly complete elasmosaur discovered by local fossil hunter Mike Trask and his daughter Heather in 1988. The fossil was later excavated and housed at the Courtenay and District Museum and Paleontology Centre. It became the focus of detailed scientific analysis—bringing together local efforts and academic expertise, including that of Robin O’Keefe.

O’Keefe's work on elasmosaurs blends detailed anatomical studies with cutting-edge phylogenetic methods and biomechanical modeling. In collaboration with other researchers and citizen scientists, O’Keefe has used elasmosaur fossils from Vancouver Island to explore big questions in marine reptile evolution: How did they swim? Why did their necks evolve to such extreme proportions? What ecological roles did they fill?

In 2017, O’Keefe co-authored a landmark paper with Victoria Arbour and others that analyzed the Nanaimo elasmosaur, revealing key insights into its morphology and evolutionary relationships. 

Dr. Robin O’Keefe’s collaboration with Dr. Victoria Arbour, a Canadian paleontologist and Curator of Paleontology at the Royal BC Museum, marked a significant milestone in the scientific study of marine reptiles from British Columbia. Together, they co-authored a 2017 paper describing a new species of elasmosaurid from the Late Cretaceous rocks of Vancouver Island—a specimen that had long fascinated researchers and fossil enthusiasts alike.

The specimen in question—unearthed near Courtenay in the 1980s and later housed at the Courtenay & District Museum—was one of the most complete marine reptile fossils ever discovered in British Columbia. For years, the fossil was known informally, but its scientific description had not been completed. That changed with the collaboration between O’Keefe and Arbour, along with co-authors Patrick Druckenmiller and Matthew E. Burns.

In their 2017 paper titled "A new elasmosaurid from the Upper Cretaceous of Vancouver Island and a revised phylogeny of Elasmosauridae", the team formally described the specimen as a new genus and species: Nakonanectes bradti.

The genus name Nakonanectes pays homage to the Nakwaxda’xw First Nation, while bradti honours Mike Bradt, a local figure who supported paleontological research in the region.

This work helped clarify its position within Elasmosauridae and highlighted the importance of the Vancouver Island specimen in understanding the family’s diversification during the Late Cretaceous.

Noteworthy Insights from O’Keefe’s Research:

• Neck Functionality: O’Keefe has argued that the elongated necks of elasmosaurs were not simply passive structures, but played an active role in prey capture. He used biomechanical modeling to suggest that the neck allowed rapid strikes in a three-dimensional aquatic environment.
• Paleobiogeography: His work has shown that elasmosaurs were far more widespread and ecologically diverse than previously thought. The Vancouver Island specimens offer crucial evidence of North Pacific elasmosaurid diversity and dispersal routes.
• Morphological Evolution: Through detailed studies of skull and limb morphology, O’Keefe has advanced the idea that elasmosaurs represent a distinct and derived lineage of plesiosaurs, with complex adaptations for open-ocean life.

O’Keefe’s collaborative approach is also worth noting. His work on Vancouver Island elasmosaurs brought together professional paleontologists, local museums, and amateur fossil collectors. He has praised the community-based model of paleontology in British Columbia, where important discoveries often begin in the hands of citizen scientists and are then scientifically studied through institutional partnerships.

Robin O’Keefe’s work has been instrumental in reframing how scientists understand elasmosaurs—not as clumsy, bizarre sea reptiles but as highly specialized marine predators with a dynamic evolutionary history. 

His research on Vancouver Island’s elasmosaur fossils has revealed new species, resolved evolutionary puzzles, and underscored the importance of community science in paleontology. 

Through detailed anatomical work, phylogenetic analysis, and public engagement, O’Keefe continues to deepen our understanding of the ancient oceans and the creatures that ruled them.

ABOUT F. ROBIN O'KEEFE

Professor F. Robin O’Keefe received his Bachelor’s degree in honours Biology from Stanford University in 1992, and his Ph.D. in Evolutionary Biology from the University of Chicago in 2000. 

He has held a faculty position at Marshall University in West Virginia since 2006, where he has taught over two thousand undergraduates in courses ranging from human anatomy to comparative zoology and earth history. Dr. O’Keefe has successfully mentored 19 Master’s degrees, with two in progress. 

O’Keefe has published widely in journals including Science, Nature, PNAS, Systematic Biology. 

An acknowledged expert on marine reptiles from the age of dinosaurs, O’Keefe was awarded the 2013 Drinko Distinguished Research Fellowship for his work on plesiosaur reproduction. 

O’Keefe has also published on the anatomy and relationships of Permian reptiles from Africa, as well as a series of papers on the evolutionary biology of Rancho La Brea carnivores. Doctor O’Keefe has done paleontological field work in the Caribbean, Madagascar, Niger, China, Europe, South America, and throughout the American West, with current digs in the Cretaceous of Wyoming and Montana.

Fancy some additional reading? Here is a list of papers by Robin O’Keefe, including his work on the Vancouver Island specimens including his collaborative efforts with Victoria Arbour and others:

O’Keefe, F.R., Arbour, V., Druckenmiller, P.S., & Burns, M.E. (2017). A new elasmosaurid from the Upper Cretaceous of Vancouver Island and a revised phylogeny of Elasmosauridae. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 37(1), e1278608. https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2017.1278608

O’Keefe, F.R., & Hiller, N. (2006). Morphologic and ontogenetic patterns in elasmosaur neck length, with comments on the taxonomic utility of neck length variables. Paludicola, 5(4), 206–229.

O’Keefe, F.R. (2001). A cladistic analysis and taxonomic revision of the Plesiosauria (Reptilia: Sauropterygia). Acta Zoologica Fennica, 213, 1–63.

O’Keefe, F.R. (2002). Phylogeny and convergence in the Plesiosauria (Reptilia: Sauropterygia). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 22(1), 58–79. https://doi.org/10.1671/0272-4634(2002)022[0058:PACITP]2.0.CO;2

O’Keefe, F.R., & Carrano, M.T. (2005). Correlated trends in the evolution of the plesiosaur locomotor system. Paleobiology, 31(4), 656–675. https://doi.org/10.1666/04026.1

FOSSIL FRESHWATER SALMON FROM KAMLOOPS, BRITISH COLUMBIA

Fossilized Salmon gifted to the Huntress by John Leahy

Nestled in the interior of British Columbia, the region around Kamloops is a dry, sagebrush-studded landscape—and home to some of Canada’s most remarkable fossil fish discoveries. 

It is also home to many rattlesnakes, so if you are up that way, step lively!

Among the most fascinating fossils found here are fossilized salmonids, distant ancestors of the modern Pacific salmon that are iconic to the rivers of British Columbia today.

The fossils of interest date back to the Eocene, approximately 50 million years ago, and are primarily found in the Tranquille Formation, a part of the Kamloops Group. 

This ancient lakebed is located at McAbee Fossil Beds, near Cache Creek just west of Kamloops, and also in the nearby Driftwood Canyon and Princeton fossil beds, which together form part of British Columbia’s Eocene fossil record.

The Tranquille Formation preserves what was once a large, subtropical freshwater lake surrounded by lush forests. 

Volcanic ashfalls and fine silt periodically buried aquatic organisms and plant matter, preserving them in astonishing detail. Among the insects, plants, and other fish fossils, paleontologists have discovered fossil remains of early salmonids, the group of fish that includes modern salmon and trout.

A significant discovery was Eosalmo driftwoodensis, the earliest known fossil representative of the salmon family (Salmonidae). 

First described in 1977 by Canadian ichthyologist Mark Wilson, Eosalmo was recovered from the Driftwood Canyon site in northern BC but its relatives have been found in similar-aged formations across the province, including near Kamloops.

These fossils show that salmonids had already begun to diversify during the early Eocene. Eosalmo displays characteristics linking it to both trout and salmon, suggesting that the divergence between these lineages was already underway. Its morphology includes features like a terminal mouth, forked tail, and well-developed fins, hallmarks of active freshwater swimmers.

What’s particularly interesting about fossil salmonids in British Columbia is that they appear to have lived exclusively in freshwater during the Eocene. 

This contrasts with today’s Pacific salmon, which are famously anadromous—born in freshwater, migrating to the ocean, and returning to spawn. The fossil record suggests this sea-run lifestyle evolved later, possibly as a response to tectonic shifts and changing ocean currents in the Miocene, around 20 million years ago.

The lakes of Eocene BC, including the one preserved at McAbee, would have supported thriving fish populations in a warm, relatively stable climate. Fossil finds include not just salmonids but also bowfins, suckers, and small freshwater herring-like fish, painting a picture of a rich and diverse aquatic ecosystem.

The McAbee Fossil Beds, now designated as a provincial heritage site, continue to yield new specimens. Though public access is currently restricted to protect the integrity of the site, ongoing research continues to uncover new details about the ancient ecosystems of interior BC.

Institutions such as the Royal BC Museum and the University of Alberta have studied and preserved these fossil fish. Scientific papers by Mark Wilson, and others have helped place these finds into a broader evolutionary context, revealing how ancient fish faunas of western North America evolved over tens of millions of years.

The fossil salmon of Kamloops bones, entombed in rock for 50 million years, speak to a time when the interior of British Columbia was lush, warm, and teeming with life. 

As research continues, these fossil salmonids help illuminate the early history of a fish group vital not just to ecosystems, but to cultures and economies across the Pacific Rim.

The beauty you see here is a fossil salmon skull gifted to me by the remarkable John Leahy, who is much missed!

References:

Wilson, M. V. H. (1977). Eosalmo driftwoodensis, a new genus and species of fossil salmonid fish from the Eocene of British Columbia. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 14(5), 1213–1230.

Wilson, M. V. H., & Li, G. Q. (1999). Osteology and phylogenetic relationships of Eosalmo, the earliest known salmonid fish. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 36(10), 1559–1573.

Archibald, S. B., Greenwood, D. R., Smith, R. Y., Mathewes, R. W., & Basinger, J. F. (2011). Great Canadian Lagerstätten 1. Early Eocene Lagerstätten of the Okanagan Highlands (British Columbia and Washington State). Geoscience Canada, 38(4), 155–164.

McAbee Fossil Beds Provincial Heritage Site: https://www2.gov.bc.ca

If you’re ever driving through Kamloops, it’s humbling to think that beneath your feet lie the ancestors of today’s salmon—timeless travellers of BC’s ancient waterways.