Saturday 11 February 2017
Thursday 9 February 2017
Tuesday 7 February 2017
Monday 6 February 2017
Sunday 5 February 2017
Friday 3 February 2017
Thursday 2 February 2017
IN SEARCH OF TRIASSIC BEASTIES
Well, if finds like Shonisaurus sikanniensis are any indication, my guess would be northern British Columbia.
After almost no large finds over the past hundred years, they have revealed the largest marine reptile on record, along with countless terrestrial finds that make that area one of the richest searching grounds on the globe.
There are Triassic marine outcrops in northern British Columbia that extend from Wapiti Lake to the Yukon border. Without the fossil finds, this area is just pure, raw Canadian gold in terms of scenery and environmental importance. Well worth exploring for its sheer beauty.
With the paleontological possibilities, it's the stuff of dreams. The big reveal may be new species of dinosaurs, large marine reptiles and greater insight into their behaviour and interactions deep in the Triassic.
I'm excited for the future of paleontology in the region as more of these fruitful outcrops are discovered, collected and studied.
Wednesday 1 February 2017
Thursday 26 January 2017
MIDDLE TRIASSIC-ANISIAN AMMONOID
EOCENE LOVE BUG
This is a Fossil Love Bug, one of the most satisfying fossils to collect in the Eocene deposits of Princeton, British Columbia.
Love Bugs or March Flies are hardy, medium-sized flies in the Order Diptera, with a body length ranging from 4.0 to 10.0 mm. The body is black, brown, or rusty, and thickset, with thick legs. The antennae are moniliform. The front tibiae bear large strong spurs or a circlet of spines. The tarsi are five-segmented and bear tarsal claws, pulvilli, and a well-developed empodium.
As it is with many species, these guys included, the teens of this species are troublesome but the adults turn out alright. As larvae, Bibionidae are pests of agricultural crops, devouring all those tasty young seedlings you've just planted.
Then, as they mature their tastes turn to the nectar of flowers from fruit trees and la voila, they become your best friends again. With their physical and behavioral transformation complete, Bibionidae become a welcome garden visitor, pulling their weight in the ecosystems they live in by being important pollinators.
Monday 16 January 2017
AMMONITE CRUSHED BY PREDATOR
One of the natural predators to ammonites were the marine reptiles, particularly mosasaurs and elasmosaurs.
Mosasaurs, while robust predators, lived nearer to the ocean surface, preying on fish, turtles, birds, and sadly for this fellow, ammonites.
Ammonites were also prey to the elasmosaurs, a genus of plesiosaur that lived in the Late Cretaceous. With their long necks, the could move unseen in the depths then chomp down with their cage-like teeth to munch on fish and those unfortunate enough to be the tasty bounty of ancient times.
Sunday 15 January 2017
Saturday 14 January 2017
Thursday 12 January 2017
Tuesday 10 January 2017
FLORISSANTIA SP. (STERCULIACEAE)
Florissantia, an extinct genus in the Cocoa Tree Family |
This specimen is from the Allenby Formation, which is predominately fine-grained shales and mudrocks. Florissantia are quite commonly found here alongside other plant remains and rarer, insect and fish fossils.
Monday 9 January 2017
Friday 6 January 2017
SHELTER POINT, VANCOUVER ISLAND
At the northern end of Shelter Bay, turn east onto Heard Road, which ends at a public access to Shelter Point. A low tide is necessary in order to collect from these shales. I also recommend rubber boots and eye protection. This is a good family trip.
The fossils, mainly the crab, Longusorbis and the straight ammonite Baculites, occur only in the gritty concretions that weather out of the shale. Aside from the fossils, check out the local tidepools and larger sea life in the area. Seals and playful otters can be seen basking on the beaches.
CRETACEOUS STEW: INOCERAMUS CLAMS
Visit his collection at the Qualicum Museum on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. It is well worth the trip!
Thursday 5 January 2017
Wednesday 4 January 2017
THEROPOD TRACK, TUMBLER RIDGE
Rich McCrea, Dinosaur Track Specialist & Heidi Henderson |
Here you can see a theropod footprint found by Heidi Henderson, then Chair of the Vancouver Paleontological Society.
Rich McCrae, resident paleontologist and researcher at the site has published many first dinosaur finds from British Columbia. The specimen was donated to the Tumbler Ridge Paleontological Society.
Monday 2 January 2017
ANKYLOSAUR TRACKWAY
Imagine a meandering armored tank munching on ferns, shrubs and other low-growing vegetation.
This is a photograph of an ankylosaur trackway filled with water and lit by lamplight along Wolverine River, a research site of Lisa Buckley, one of two magnificent paleontologists working in the area.
There are three types of footprints at the Wolverine River Tracksite - theropods (at least four different sizes) sauropods and ankylosaurs. Filling the prints with water and using light in a clever way was a genius idea for viewing tracks that are all but invisible in bright sunlight by day.
Sunday 1 January 2017
Saturday 31 December 2016
JOHN DAY FOSSIL BEDS
Oreodont skull, John Day Fossil Beds |
The fossiliferous strata that have yielded beautifully preserved specimens of many of the animals we see domesticated today. Dogs, cats, swine and horses are common. Oreodonts, camels, rhinoceros and rodents have also been found in this ancient deciduous forested area.
Here my talented young paleontologist cousin Spencer is holding a well preserved Oreodont skull.Many sites in Oregon yield beautifully preserved fossil shells laid down over 60 million years. The asteroid that hit the Gulf of Mexico at the end of the Cretaceous caused a seafloor rift that split ancient Oregon. The massive hole left behind as the coastal lands slid northward filled in with sediment, refilling the basin.
These marine sediments were uplifted around the time of the birth of Oregon's Coastal Range. Easily collected and identified, as they look very similar to their modern cousins, you can dig for marine fossils all along Oregon's beachfront.
Friday 30 December 2016
MOSQUE-CATHEDRAL, CORDOBA, SPAIN
This sharing arrangement lasted until 784, when the Christian half was purchased by the Emir 'Abd al-Rahman I, who then demolished the original structure to build the grand mosque of Córdoba on its ground.
Córdoba returned to Christian rule in 1236 during the Reconquista, and the building was converted to a Roman Catholic church, culminating in the inclusion of a Renaissance cathedral nave in the 16th century. If you are visiting Andalusia, it is well worth a day trip. Bring your camera and comfortable shoes.
Thursday 29 December 2016
KOTSUIS AND HOHHUG: KWAKWAKWA'WAKA OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST
Kotsuis and Hohhug, Nakoaktok |
Curtis photographed the Kwakwaka'waka ceremonial dress and masks on the west coast of British Columbia.
The Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw (or Kwakiutl) are a collective of First Nation groups of the Pacific Northwest Coast. We view them as one people, and they are bound by language, but each had their own Chiefs, beliefs and ancestors. Collectively they cover the territory of British Columbia on northern Vancouver Island, some of the islands around Johnstone Strait and Queen Charlotte Strait and the adjoining mainland.
United by the common language of Kwak'wala, the broad group can be divided into 13 nations, each with its own clan structure and distinct histories. According to Kwakwaka'wakw folklore their ancestors or ‘na’mima, came to a given spot — by way of land, sea, or underground — in the form of ancestral animals that upon arrival shed their animal appearance and became human.
The first documented contact with Westerners was in 1792 during the expedition led by English officer Captain George Vancouver, and was soon followed by colonies of Europeans settling on Canada's West Coast.
As was often the way, with settlers came disease and the Kwakwaka’wakw population dropped by up to 75% between 1830 and 1880. Their distinctive ideas about wealth — that status came not from how much you owned but how much you were able to give away — came to the particular attention of the US anthropologist Franz Boas, who wrote extensively on their elaborate gift-giving ceremonies known as the potlach.
The ceremonial practice was also a particular target of Christian missionaries who saw it as a major obstacle to their "civilizing" mission, and the Canadian government banned the practice in 1885 —although the act was soon amended, proving impossible to enforce.
This photograph of the ceremonial dress and masks of the Kwakwaka'wakw was the creation of American photographer and ethnologist Edward Curtis (1868–1952), famous for his work with First Nations and Native American people.
Part of a project funded by banking magnate J.P. Morgan, these photographs are from the collection held at the Library of Congress and contain many images not published in Curtis' enormous twenty-volume The North American Indian. In 2015, Taschen produced their epic 768-page The North American Indian: The Complete Portfolios, which gathers Curtis’ entire American Indian portfolio into one publication.
Library of Congress Collection: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?st=grid&co=ecur
Wednesday 28 December 2016
SEAGULLS: T'SIK'WI
A gull cries in protest at not getting his share of a meal |