OREODONT SKULL

ANCIENT RIVER DELTA

The exposures of the Chuckanut Formation were once part of a vast river delta; imagine, if you will, the bayou country of the Lower Mississippi.

The siltstones, sandstones, mudstones and conglomerates of the Chuckanut Formation were laid down about 40-54 million years ago during the Eocene epoch, a time of luxuriant plant growth in the subtropical flood plain that covered much of the Pacific Northwest. This ancient wetland provided ideal conditions to preserve the many trees, shrubs & plants that thrived here. Rare bird, reptile and mammal tracks have also been immortalized. Tracks from Diatryma, a large flightless bird, were uncovered in 2009. Diatryma reached up to 9 feet in height, making a living in the grasslands and swamps of the Eocene.

TRACKWAY

SERENE BEAUTY

UNEARTHING ANCIENT WASHINGTON

A trip along Chuckanut Drive, in northwestern Washington is a chance to view incredible diversity from sea to sky.

An amazing array of plants and animals call this coastline home. For the fossil enthusiast, it is a chance to slip back in time and have a bird’s eye view to a more tropical time with a visit to the Chuckanut Formation. Snug up against the Pacific Ocean, this 6000m thick exposure yields a vast number of tropical and flowering plants that you might see in Mexico today.

Easily accessible by car, this rich natural playground makes for an enjoyable daytrip just one hour south of the US Border

RUCKUS ON THE ROCKS

MOSASAUR: JAWLINE REVEALED

A close-up view of the dentition of an ancient aquatic, carnivorous lizard,the mighty Mosasaur, from Late Cretaceous exposures on Vancouver Island.

This well-prepped specimen is now housed in the collections of the Courtenay Museum, Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

The creature who owned this jaw bone undoubtably swam alongside Kourisodon puntledgensis, another enormous marine predator and new species of Mosasaur unearthed on Vancouver Island who swam our ancient seaway millions of years ago.

FOSSIL PLANT DETAIL

MISTY MORNING FOSSIL FIELD TRIP

ÁRBOLES Y LUZ

GORDES, FRANCE

Gordes est l'une des villes les plus belles dans les sud de la France. Construit sur un grand cliffside de pierre à chaux, il loge également certains des meilleurs échantillons fossiles de la région.

EOCENE PLANT SITE #2

PADDLING VALHALLA

METASEQUOIA: EAST MEETS WEST

Metasequoia, a deciduous conifer, and one of the common fossils found in many of the Eocene sites of the Pacific northwest, flourished in Oregon's forests for millions of years. In honor of this long history, Oregon has named it their official state fossil.

Metasequoia were first described from the Mesozoic from Shigeru Miki in 1941. Miki, thinking they were long extinct was surprised that his 'fossil first' had living relatives. The "dawn redwood" was rediscovered in China in 1941 in Modaoxi. The excitement of the find was diminished by the heating up of World War II. In 1948, Wan Chun Cheng took up their study with fellow scientist, Hu Hsen Hsu, with a study and a replanting program.

Harvard University was asked to participate and brought back a collection of seeds and seedlings to distritute to various universities and arboreta worldwide. Today, the dawn redwood can be found growing in temperate environments across North America and the rest of the globe.

Two of my friends, Mike and Cory, raise these "fossil seedlings" for friends and paleo enthusiasts. Sadly, I tend to underwater for extended periods of time, which has disasterous effects even on this small study sample. Even so, several of the hardiest seedlings grace my yard, adding a bright, fresh green and Oregon's official fossil to the garden. This year, I've started a few new hopefuls of my own to plant on Earth Day.

FOSSILES DANS LE BASSIN DE PARIS

J'ai plaisir à voyager aux sud de la France assez souvent. Hormis le grand vin et les personnes fantastiques, la région d'Avignon est nichée dans le bassin de Paris… un arrangement gentil de pierre à chaux où on peut trouver l'abondance de beaux fossiles

PRISTINE WATERS

ELAFONISI: ΠΑΛΑΙΟΝΤΟΛΟΓΙΑ

Nestled between the Aegean and Libyan Sea, Crete, the largest of the Greek Islands, sits at the southern most tip of Europe, the crossroad of cultures, civilizations, East and West, Africa and Europe.

The islands of the Aegean are peaks of underwater mountains that extend out from the mainland. Crete is the last of this range and boasts a diverse beauty from its high mountains of Psiloritis, Lefka Ori, Dikti, to its ocean caressed pink sand beaches.

Much of the island of Crete is Miocene and filled with fossil mollusks, bivalves, gastropods and their marine pals who lived 5 to 23 million years ago in these warm, tropical waters. One of the best collecting sites is the beachside haunt of Elafonisi, on the island’s southern tip, 43km from Kastelli and 76km from Chania.

Aside from the plentiful fossils in creamy pink limestone matrix, the beach is home to sun bathing locals and rare extant marine species. Pinniped Seals and Loggerhead Sea turtles call this part of the world home.

The fields are crimson, filled with lush, red Cretan Poppies. If you have a taste for something more remote, and venture into the local mountains, you’ll see wonderful folliage, exquisite orchids and deep in the forests the last remaining lynx, Roe Deer, Wild Goat and brown bear.

After a day of collecting, you can take in the vineyards to indulge in some fine cretan wine and local olive oil. Enough of either will inspire you to explore the local music scene with you doing a wobbly Pentozali impression by nightfall.

Where in the World:

Elafonisi (alternate spelling Elafonissi) on the southern tip of Crete, 43km from Kastelli and 76km from Chania. longitude 23o 30' 60" N, latitude 35o 15' 60" N

Getting there:

Both Aegean Airlines fly into Crete. If you stop to take in the monastery of Panagia Chrisoskalitissa, "Our Lady of the Golden Step," it is just a mere 6km further to the beaches of Elafonisi via a dirt road. If you are without a car, no worries, there is regular bus service to Elafonisi from Kasteli and Chania. Conveniently, the fossil exposures are easy to spot and a stones throw from the main bus stop.

There is so much more to say about Crete but I'll stop this adventure at Elafonisi. The island holds many mysteries and bountiful fossil finds, including the remains of Deinotherium giganteum, a massive 8 million-year-old mammal and primative relative of the elephants roaming the Earth today.

With an emormous large nasal opening at the centre of his skull, presumably to house a rather largish trunk, Deinotherium may be the inspiration behind the myth of the Cyclops, the one-eyed giant from Homer's famous Odyssey... but that is a tale for another day.

PEREGRINE BEAUTY: BIRDS OF PREY

Peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus), are exquisite birds of prey.

Reaching speeds of over 320 km/h (200 mph) they are worthy predators in the air and one of the fastest moving creatures on the planet.

Highly adaptable to hot and cold temperatures, they boast a breeding range that stretches from the icy cold Arctic tundra to the searing Tropics.

The Peregrine Falcon was added to the endangered species list back in the 1970's after their population took a beating from food sources contaminated with pesticides, DDT being the main culprit. With the ban of DDT and active breed and release programs, their numbers have significantly increased.

The very pretty female in this photo is Miss Shade. She weighs in at around 34 ounces, a wee bit larger than her male counterparts, a ratio true for most raptors.

EOCENE PLANT SITE #2

KASKAPAU FORMATION: DINOSAUR BONE

Bones from a variety of dinosaurs have been found in the Tumbler Ridge area of British Columbia. Here plaster is used to protect a valuable dinosaur bone collected from Flatbed Creek near Tumbler Ridge. The bone is from the Kaskapau Formation (Turonian) and was found a few metres away from a Tetrapodosaurus, "four-footed lizard," trackway.

If you are interested in learning more about the paleontology of the Tumbler Ridge area or perhap plan to visit, check out these papers and links from the lovely and hard working Lisa Buckley, one of their two resident paleontologists.

Papers:
Arbour et al. (2008ish) wrote up a paper in the Canadian Journal of Earth Science on dinosaur material collected in the 60s from BC; Rylaarsdam et al. contributed to the same journal two years earlier on the association of dinosaur footprints and skeletal material in the Kaskapau Formation.

Additional Links:

www.trmf.ca (Tumbler Ridge Museum Foundation)
www.prprc.com (Peace Region Palaeontology Research Centre)
www.canadatracks.com (Maintained by Rich McCrea, PRPRC's curator and vertebrate ichnologist)

HOMAGE TO SPRING

HOMAGE TO SPRING

MORNING SUNSHINE

SALT SPRING ISLAND: HMS ORIOLE

MISTER FINALLY

CLIMBING TO GLORY: 2010 WINTER OLYMPICS

CHÂTEAU-NEUF DU PAPE

Châteauneuf du Pape est le vin de Côtes du Rhône le plus célèbre. Le Coteaux de Châteauneuf du Pape est entre l'orange et Avignon, dans un des paysages les plus beaux de la Provence. Les papes utilisés pour avoir leur résidence d'été là en Châteauneuf du Pape. C'est la vue du plus grand château dans la région.

VANCOUVER 2010

2010 OLYMPICS

SEA SCORPIONS: PREDATORS OF PERMIAN SEAS

About two dozen families of eurypterids “sea scorpions” are known from the fossil record.

Although these ancient predators have a superficial similarity, including a defensive needle-like spike or telson at their tail end, they are not true scorpions. They are an extinct group of arthropods related to spiders, ticks, mites and other extant creepy crawlies.

Eurypterids hunted fish in the muddy bottoms of warm shallow seas some 460 to 248 million years ago before moving on to hunting grounds in fresh and brackish water during the latter part of their reign. Their numbers diminished greatly during the Permian-Triassic extinction, becoming extinct by 248 million years ago.

Eurypterids are found in Canada, most notably at the Ridgemount Quarry near Niagara Falls. This near-perfect specimen of Eurypterus remipes, held by my young cousin Sivert, was named the official state fossil of New York in 1984.

BURNT LEAVES

SEX & INFIDELITY: CLUES AT FACE VALUE

If you have not already chosen your new love, researchers suggest you stay away from those with big chins as they have a tendency to cheat. Researchers from four universities across the US and Canada prodded into the sexual habits of chinny and relatively chin-less females to determine these results.

Kidding? No, they’ve published in the journal Personality And Individual Differences, so it must be true. Larger chins, especially on adult females, are associated with the male growth hormone testosterone and too much of that bad boy can lead to messing around. It seems on an subconscious level men sense this trend and are biased against a more masculine chin. Well, most men. Brad Pitt, quite famously, does prefer women with a strong jawline. Given that his preference might skew the results, I suspect he wasn't included in the study.

The findings are important in demonstrating that perceptions of women as desirable and trustworthy long-term mates can be reliably gleaned by men from viewing only the women's facial features. "Results suggest that information about women's sexual unrestrictedness, which is related to their risk of infidelity, can potentially be conveyed by the masculinity of women's faces."

Hogwash you say? Perhaps you are already hooked up with said chin-cheater? Well, they may cheat, but you may also have found a sexual goldmine. Women (and perhaps men) with larger chins are also more sexually assertive and perhaps better in bed.

Perhaps Brad is onto something. Bring on the chocolate and the chins I say. Everyday is Valentine's Day!

SHEIKS, EBBETS, ANISALAGA ANEIN HUNT, HENDERSON FAMILY TREE

Chief Sheiks, Chief Ebbets, Mary Anéin Anisalaga Hunt (1823-1919), Henderson Family Tree

 

TYAUGHTON AMMONITES

CROSSING THE BERING LAND BRIDGE

The Columbian Mammoth, the official state fossil of Washington, crossed the Bering Land Bridge into North America some one million years ago and made a home roaming the vast grasslands that stretched from Alaska to Mexico, mirroring the great Rocky Mountains, and munching down about 300 pounds of vegetation each day.

During the Pleistocene this extinct elephant extended his habitat down into Central America to modern day Nicaragua and Honduras before dying out around 12,500 years ago. Photo courtesy of Filippo Bertozzi

SALMONID BONE BED: DRIFTWOOD CANYON

We are all familiar with the image of salmon returning to fresh water, to the rivers of their youth, to spawn and complete their lifecycle, in fact, it is one of the staple images of British Columbia.

As adults, we bring our children to witness this cycle, rushing to the banks of our local rivers to watch as the adults, keen in their fight for reproduction and survival, struggle to complete their epic journeys against currents and predators.

Arriving as they do, year upon year, season upon season, it seems to us that this is how it has been since time immemorial.

But we now have evidence that migration to the sea may be a relatively recent behaviour. Fossil beds at Driftwood Canyon, near Smithers, contain large numbers of fossil salmonid remains from the Eocene age, approximately 45 million years ago. What is interesting is that the fossil beds are filled equally with both juvenile and larger adults.

If these salmon were heading off to sea in their juvenile form and returning to spawn as adults we would expect to find an abundance of larger carcasses in the lake sediments and relatively few juveniles. Given the equal numbers, we can conclude that the salmonids of the Eocene, lived out their lifecycle as a landlocked species, the way Kokanee do today.

RAINFOREST FUNGI

TERRA FIRMA: UPTHRUSTING PLATES

Two hundred million years ago, Washington was two large islands, bits of continent on the move westward, eventually bumping up against the North American continent and calling it home. Even with their new fixed address, the shifting continues though subsiding laterally and continuing vertically. The force of these pressure strained plates continues to push seemingly immovable mountains skyward.

This dynamic shifting has created the landscape we see today and helped form the fossil record that tells much of Washington’s relatively recent history of the past 50 million years.

TYAUGHTON FOSSIL BEDS