ANDALUSIA: ARCHITECTURE AND FOSSILS

Córdoba’s Mezquita Mosque-Cathedral

Andalusia is a gorgeous region of hills, creamy-beige rock, rivers and farmland bordering Spain’s southern coast. 

As you explore the region, you see the influence of Roman and Islamic conquest. It was under Moorish rule from the 8th-15th centuries, a legacy that shows in its architecture, particularly at sites like the Alcázar Castle in Seville and Córdoba’s Mezquita Mosque-Cathedral and Granada’s Alhambra palace in southern Spain. 

If you look closely, there is a lovely echinoderm fossil about the size of your hand embedded within the masonry stones of the Mezquita Mosque-Cathedral.  

Fossils are common in the ashlars and masonry in Córdoba. Despite having other limestone and granite quarries nearby, the calcarenites limestones with their embedded macrofossils were the most sought after because of the ease with which they could be worked and their relative lightness.

This is one of my favourite places to visit, both for the wonderful architecture, intense human history and the wonderful Hauterivian, Early Cretaceous fossil outcrops in the Baetic Cordillera. 

The Sierra Nevada range, which boasts Spain’s highest peak, Mulhacén (3479m), is 75 kilometres of snowcapped peaks sprinkled with quaint Alpujarras villages lost in time. 

Echinoid Fossil in the Mosque-Cathedral in Córdoba

Each of these shows the juxtaposition of Muslim and Christian architecture and none more so than the especially stunning, and oh so grand Mosque-Cathedral in Córdoba. 

It was originally a small temple of Christian Visigoth origin then expanded again and again to reach a grand scale which speaks to its unusual and collaborative history. 

In 711, Muslims invaded and conquered Spain over the course of seven years. History is a tricky business to sort fact from fancy. One tale about the origins of the Muslim invasion mentions an oppressed Christian Chief, Julian, who wanted to get out from under the thumb of the tyrannical Visigoth rule. 

While powerful, the Visigoths made up only 1-2% of the population and had ruled for more than 300 years. |Their grip over the country and its growing rebellious population was already starting to crack. Julian resented King Roderic, the ruler of Spain and sought the aid of Musa ibn Nusair, the governor of North Africa to help him wage war. Musa was happy to oblige and sent the young general Tariq bin Ziyad with an army of 7,000 troops. 

Alhambra Palace, Granada, Spain

The Rock of Gibraltar — the massive monolithic limestone formed from Early Jurassic limestones and dolomites that grace the southwestern tip of Europe on the Iberian Peninsula — owes its name to Jabal At-Tariq — Arabic for 'Rock of Tariq' — the place where those first Muslim troops landed. 

Tariq did invade Spain but was driven as much by greed and conquest as by Julian's alleged appeal for help. The seasoned Muslim army defeated the Visigoths handily and King Roderic lost his life in the process at the Battle of Guadalete. I visited King Roderic's home city of Toledo, on the banks of the Tagus River. 

The city was the seat of a powerful archdiocese for much of its history and has some of my favourite feats of architecture — the Gothic Cathedral, the Catedral Primada de España ("The Primate Cathedral of Spain"), and a long history in the production of bladed weapons and lovely pottery dishes.

The Muslims — or Moorish — went on to conquer most of Spain and Portugal with ease. They washed across the land and by 720 Spain was largely under Muslim control. The combined Arab-Berber forces crossed the Pyrenees into Septimania and occupied territory in Gaul until 759. Their ultimate intension was the conquest of Constantinople, but their chosen path was through Spain.

Margocalizas del Jurásico Inferior

The churches and palaces you visit today are a visual memory of that piece of history lost in time. The mosque-cathedral was divided into Muslim and Christian halves. 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 trip. Bring your camera and comfortable shoes. 

There is a converted convent that is now a boutique hotel with a rooftop terrace — the Balcon de Córdoba — that I highly recommend. It is on Calle Encarnacion 8, 14003. If you are planning a stay, give them a jingle and enjoy their Old World style. Tel: +34 957 49 84 78.

Photo: The specimen you see here of the Lower Jurassic ammonite Margocalizas sp. is in the collections of the deeply awesome Manuel Peña Nieto of Córdoba, Spain.

Photo: Echinoid in the masonry of Córdoba’s Mezquita Mosque-Cathedral: Miguel López Pulido

HASLAM FORMATION NEAR BRANNEN LAKE

Steller's Jay, Cyanocitta stelleri

One of the classic Vancouver Island fossil localities is the Santonian-Maastrichtian, Upper Cretaceous Haslam Formation Motocross Pit near Brannen Lake, Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada.

The quarry is no longer active as such though there is a busy little gravel quarry a little way down the road closer to Ammonite falls near Benson Creek Falls.

Today it is an active motocross site and remains one of the classic localities of the Nanaimo Group. We find well-preserved nautiloids and ammonites — Canadoceras, Pseudoschloenbachia, Epigoniceras — the bivalves — Inoceramus, Sphenoceramus— gastropods, and classic Nanaimo Group decapods — Hoploparia, Linuparus. We also find fossil fruit and seeds which tell the story of the terrestrial history of Vancouver Island.

Upper Cretaceous Haslam Formation Motocross Pit near Brannen Lake

It was John Fam, Vice-Chair, Vancouver Island Paleontological Society (VanPS), who originally told me about the locality. John is one of the most delightful and knowledgeable people you'd be well-blessed to meet.

While he lived on Vancouver Island, he was an active member of the VanPS back when I was Chair. Several of the best joint VIPS/VanPS paleontological expeditions were planned with or instigated by his passion for fossils. I tip my hat to him for his passion and shared love of all things paleo.

John grew up 15 minutes from the motocross locality and used to collect there a few times a week with his father. John has wonderful parents and since marrying his childhood sweetheart, the amazing Grace, those excellent genetics, curiosity and love of fossils are now being passed to a new generation. It's lovely to see John and Grace continuing tradition with two boys of their own.

I met John way back then and did an overnight at his parent's house the Friday before a weekend field trip to Jurassic Point. It was a joy to have him walk me through his collections and tell his stories from earlier years. After learning about the site from John, I headed up to the Motocross Pit with my Uncle Doug. He was a delightful man who grew up on the coast and had explored much of it but not the fossil site just 10-minutes from his home. It was wonderful to walk through time with him so many years ago and then again solo this past year with sadness in my belly that one of the best I've ever known has left this Earth.

Upper Cretaceous Haslam Formation Motocross Pit near Brannen Lake

There were some no trespassing signs up but no people around, so I walked the periphery looking for the bedrock of the Haslam.

The rocks we find here were laid down south of the equator as small, tropical islands. They rode across the Pacific heading north and slightly east over the past 80 million years to where we find them today.

Jim Haggart and Peter Ward have done much to increase our understanding of the molluscan fauna of the Nanaimo Group. Personally, both personify the charming Indiana Jones school of rugged manly palaeontologists you picture in popular film. Professionally, their singular contributions and collaborative efforts have helped shape our understanding of the correlation of Nanaimo Group fauna to those we find in the Gulf Islands of British Columbia and down in the San Juan Islands of Washington State.

Their work builds on the work of Usher (1952), Matsumoto (1959a, 1959b) and Mallory (1977). A healthy nod goes out to the work of Muller and Jeletzky (1970) for untangling the lithostratigraphic and biostratigraphic foundation for our knowledge of the Nanaimo Group.

Candoceras yokoyama, Photo: John Fam, VanPS

As I walked along the bedrock of the Haslam, a Steller's Jay, Cyanocitta stelleri, followed me from tree to tree making his guttural shook, shook, shook call. Instructive, he seemed to be encouraging me, timing his hoots to the beat of my hammer. Vancouver Island truly has glorious flora and fauna.

Fancy some additional reading? Check out a paper published in the Journal of Paleontology back in 1989 by Haggard and Ward on new Nanaimo Group Ammonites from British Columbia and Washington State.

In it, they look at the ammonite species Puzosia (Mesopuzosia) densicostata Matsumoto, Kitchinites (Neopuzosia) japonicus Spath, Anapachydiscus cf. A. nelchinensis Jones, Menuites cf. M. menu (Forbes), Submortoniceras chicoense (Trask), and Baculites cf. B. boulei Collignon are described from Santonian--Campanian strata of western Canada and northwestern United States.

Stratigraphic occurrences and ranges of the species are summarized and those taxa important for correlation with other areas in the north Pacific region and Late Cretaceous ammonite fauna of the Indo-Pacific region. Here's the link: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1305358?seq=1

Peter Ward is a prolific author, both of scientific papers and more popularized works. I highly recommend his book Gorgon: Paleontology, Obsession, and the Greatest Catastrophe in Earth's History. It is an engaging romp through a decade's research in South Africa's Karoo Desert.

Photo: Candoceras yokoyamai from Upper Cretaceous Haslam formation (Lower Campanian) near Nanaimo, British Columbia. One of the earliest fossils collected by John Fam (1993). Prepared using only a cold chisel and hammer. Photo & collection of John Fam, VIPS.

TORVOSAURUS: SAVAGE LIZARD

This toothy fellow is Torvosaurus tanneri and he hails from Late Jurassic outcrops in the Carnegie Quarry at Dinosaur National Monument, Morrison Formation, western United States — where we have found a single bone, his humerus telling us about his mighty size. 

The specimen you see here is currently on display at the Museo Nacional De Ciencias Naturales in Madrid, Spain.

Torvosaurus were one of the largest and most robust carnivores of the Jurassic. 

These "savage lizards," were true to their name. They were skilled bipedal hunters who weighed over two tons. They had powerful dentition, large, sharp teeth and strong claws on their forelegs — ferocious predators of the Upper Jurassic. He would have roamed alongside the mighty Camarasaurus, Diplodocus, Apatosaurus, Stegosaurus and Allosaurus.

Palaeontologist Earl Douglass, 1909

Fossil specimens of Torvosaurus have been found in the Lourinha Formation near Lisbon, Portugal. Here, he would have towered over the smaller Allosaurus of the region who were just over eight metres or 27 feet on average, while he towered at over ten metres or 35 feet. 

This was not the case for the Allosaurus — famed brontosaur hunters — who roamed the fern-covered floodplains of the Jurassic west and what would one day become the United States. Here they grew massive, passing twelve metres or 40 feet in length and towering over the local Tovosaurus. Allosaurus had a large bite, their jaws opening up very wide, making them capable of taking very big bites and positioning them as the top carnivores of the Late Jurassic.

Still, both of these hunters had to contend with Sauophaganax, the largest Jurassic theropod at a whopping twelve to thirteen metres — making it the largest Allosaurus and maybe even a wee bit larger than the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex roaming around western North America back when it was the island continent of Laramidia. This would have been fearsome land to roam as the juvenile of any species as all of these brutes would have the skill, speed and teeth to take you down. 

Photo One: Tovosaurus tannerion display at the Museo Nacional De Ciencias Naturales in Madrid, Spain.

Photo Two: Palaeontologist Earl Douglass digging up the remains of a Brontosaurus at the Carnegie Quarry, 1909. To learn more about this fossil site, visit: https://carnegiemnh.org/celebrated-fossil-quarry/

KOURISODON PUNTLEDGENSIS

Kourisodon Puntledgensis

Mosasaurs were large, globally distributed marine predators who dominated our Late Cretaceous oceans.  Since the unearthing of the first mosasaur in 1766 (Mulder, 2003) we've discovered their fossil remains most everywhere around the globe — New Zealand, Antarctica, Africa, North and South America, Europe and Japan.

One of my favourite specimens is a juvenile on display at the Royal Tyrell Museum in Alberta. That particular mosasaur is smaller than many of the marine reptiles in their collection but wonderfully preserved with his last meal — a metre-long lizardfish. 

After this fellow died, he drifted to the bottom of the Bearpaw Sea, an ancient body of water that connected the Gulf of Mexico and Hudson's Bay, splitting North America in two. Once settled, sharks scavenged his remains but left enough for quite a view into our Cretaceous seas. The fossil was excavated in 2008 from 71 million-year-old outcrops in the Korite Ammonite Mine in Alberta, Canada.

The specimen was prepped by the Royal Tyrell's talented technician, Mark, who cheekily nicknamed the specimen Mister Sinister because of its toothy evil grin. 

We have found marine reptile remains on Vancouver Island and in northern British Columbia. Since the first find of a marine reptile on the Puntledge River, members of the Vancouver Island Palaeontological Society have made many significant paleontological finds. Found the fossil remains of an elasmosaur and two mosasaurs along the banks of the Puntledge River and this past summer, a juvenile elasmosaur was excavated on the Trent River.

The first set of about 10 mosasaurs vertebrae (Platecarpus) was found by Tim O’Bear and unearthed by a team of VIPS and Museum enthusiasts led by Rolf Ludvigsen. Dan Bowen and Joe Morin of the Vancouver Island Palaeontological Society prepped the specimens for the Museum.

In 1993, a new species of mosasaur, Kourisodon puntledgensis, a razor-toothed mosasaur, was found upstream from the elasmosaur site by Joe Zembiliwich on a field trip led by Mike Trask. A replica of this specimen now calls The Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre in Morden home.

What is significant about this specimen is that it is a new genus and species. At 4.5 meters, it is a bit smaller than most mosasaurs and similar to Clidastes, but just as mighty. Kourisodon ("razor tooth") is a genus of mosasaur that has been found from Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada, as well as from the Izumi Group of Japan.

Kourisodon Puntledgensis

These finds date back to the late Santonian stage and the late Campanian to the late Maastrichtian, respectively, of the Late Cretaceous. Kourisodon was originally described as a member of the Leiodontini, more recently as a Clidastine.

Interestingly, this species has been found in this one locality in Canada and across the Pacific in the basal part of the Upper Cretaceous — middle Campanian to Maastrichtian — of the Izumi Group, Izumi Mountains and Awaji Island of southwestern Japan. We see an interesting correlation with the ammonite fauna from these two regions as well.

In 2005, a fragmentary skeleton from exposures of the Izumi Group on Shikoku Island, Japan, was assigned to Kourisodon sp.

The Japanese specimen had longer maxillary teeth along with a few other differences from K. puntledgensis, which the authors interpreted to mean that this individual belonged to a second species, although this new species has not yet been formally named. Other fragmentary remains from the Izumi Group have been tentatively assigned to K. sp., some of which represent juvenile animals.

Until recently, mosasaur remains from the Izumi Group (Upper Cretaceous) in southwest Japan comprised only scattered finds. Recently, additional fossil material has been unearthed from the upper Campanian Hiketa Formation in Kagawa Prefecture.

A new Kourisodon sp. has just been recorded, on the basis of portions of skull and mandible which has small and laterally compressed teeth. A few teeth of the same or similar type have previously been described from the Maastrichtian Mutsuo Formation in Osaka Prefecture. A report of Mosasaurus sp. A, which resembles M. missouriensis and M. dekayi, is based on some cranial and mandible remains, inclusive of numerous teeth and a few well-preserved cervical and two incomplete dorsal vertebrae, from the Maastrichtian Mutsuo Formation in Osaka Prefecture.

There's still a bit of sorting to do to tease out the lineage of these lovely marine reptiles. A slender tooth of Mosasaurus sp. from the Mutsuo Formation has since been reassigned to Platecarpus (Plioplatecarpinae) yet may indeed be a species of Mosasaurus. It is currently recorded as Mosasaurus sp. B. Many smaller specimens of mosasaurids have been found in the Izumi Group. It may have been that these are juvenile mosasaurs or smaller-sized, Kourisodon-like animals. Recent finds of Kourisodon sp. from the upper Campanian Hiketa Formation and the Maastrichtian Mutsuo Formation suggests that we are seeing Kourisodon-like animals and a strong correlation with our own Pacific fauna from the Nanaimo Group.

What we do not see is a correlation between our Pacific fauna and those from our neighbouring province to the east. Betsy Nicholls and Dirk Meckert published on the marine reptiles from the Nanaimo Group (Upper Cretaceous) of Vancouver Island in the Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences in 2002. What we see in our faunal mix reinforces the provinciality of the Pacific faunas — though a  strong correlation with Cretaceous Japanese fauna — and their isolation from contemporaneous faunas in the Western Interior Seaway.

PUNTLEDGE ELASMOSAUR

This toothy beauty is an elasmosaur, a large marine reptile who cruised our ancient oceans 80-million years ago. 

We have one now housed in the Courtenay and District Museum on Vancouver Island thanks to the keen eyes of  Mike Trask and his daughter. 

They found this mighty marine reptile in the winter of 1988 while fossil collecting along the Puntledge River. 

While he couldn't have known it at the time, it was this discovery and those that followed that would spark a renewed interest in palaeontology on Vancouver Island and the province of British Columbia., inspire the creation of the Vancouver Palaeontological Society, the BC Paleontological Alliance & change the face of palaeo in the province.

Mike had forged ahead, adding chalk outlines to interesting fossil and nodules in the 83 million-year-old shales along the riverbank. His daughter, Heather, was looking at the interesting features he had just outlined when they both noticed some tasty blocks and concretions in situ just a few meters away. Taking a closer look, they were thrilled to discover that they held the bones of a large marine reptile.

Unsure of what exactly they'd discovered but recognizing them as significant, Mike reached out to Dr. Betsy Nicholls a lovely researcher at the Royal Tyrell Museum.

It was Betsy who had written up the incomplete specimen of fossil turtle, Desmatochelys cf. D. lowi — Reptilia: Chelonioidea — found by Richard Bolt, Vancouver Island Palaeontological Society, in the shales of the Trent River Formation along the Puntledge River in the early 1990s. 

Dr. Nicholls wrote up the paper and published in the Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences in 1992. At that time, it was the first documented account of a Cretaceous marine vertebrate from the Pacific coast of Canada, which shows you how much we've learned about our Pacific coast in just the last few years.

The Desmatchelys find inspired the 1999 BCPA Symposium conference logo. Every second year, the BCPA hosts a symposium. The 1999 conference at UBC was the first time the Vancouver Paleontological Society had hosted a BCPA conference. The conference abstract was graced with a trilobite embedded within a turtle, celebrating recent significant contributions to Canadian palaeontology.

When Mike showed her the bones he'd found, Betsy confirmed them to be that of an elasmosaur, a large marine reptile with a small head, razor-sharp teeth and a long neck  — and the first discovery of an elasmosaur west of the Canadian Rockies — another first. It was one of those moments that lights up and inspires a whole community.

When the bones were fully excavated, this 15-meter marine beauty underwent a year of preparation to reveal the skeleton you see here. You can visit the fully prepped specimen and see the articulated bones beneath a glass case in the Courtenay Museum on Vancouver Island.

The Puntledge Elasmosaur has graced the cover of Canada's stamps and was voted as British Columbia's Provincial Fossil in 2019. This honour has the Puntledge Elasmosaur cosied up to other provincial symbols and emblems that include the Pacific Dogwood, Jade, the Steller's Jay, Western Red Cedar, Spirit Bear and Pacific Salmon. 

The runner-up for BC's Provincial Fossil was Shonisaurus sikanniensis, a massive 21-metre ichthyosaur found in Triassic outcrops in northern British Columbia. That beauty is a worthy reminder of what hunted in our ancient oceans some 220 million years ago.

Since that first moment of discovery, many wonderful events transpired. In the Fall of 1991, Mike Trask was teaching a course on palaeontology at the North Island College.

Heidi Henderson, Mike Trask & Adam Melzac, BCPA Symposium

Two of his students were Ann and Joe Zanbilowitz. With the classroom portion of the course finished up, the group set out for a fossil expedition on the Puntledge River. 

Within minutes of their search, Joe found a few small articulated vertebrae that we now know to be the type specimen of the mosasaur, Kourisodon puntledgensis. That find, along with some of the other paleontological goodies from the area, prompted the formation of the Vancouver Island Palaeontological Society from an idea to a registered society in 1992. By 1993 membership had grown from a dozen to 250.

In 1992, the Vancouver Island Palaeontological Society passed a motion to encourage the formation of a provincial umbrella group to act as an advocate to promote interaction amongst various paleontological organizations. Through the efforts of Mike Trask, Dan Bowen, Rolf Ludvigsen and others, the first meeting of the Board of Directors of the B.C. Paleontological Alliance was held in 1993 and a BCPA Symposium held every two years thereafter.

If you like podcasts, check out the Fossil Huntress — Palaeo Sommelier Podcast at https://anchor.fm/fossil-huntress

Fossil Huntress Geeky Goodness on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUerL9urNX8fHb6nHc_vrBQ

A PASSION FOR PALAEONTOLOGY

An old friend connected via social media to ask how he can best support his seven-year-old daughter's love of palaeontology. That is a question I love to hear! Now, my personal response is a bit of a tidal wave — buy her books, and rocks and a rock tumbler... take her out on fossil field trips, bring her to museums — fuel the flames of that passion for palaeo. Take no prisoners. Get her good and hooked! 

A love of palaeontology spills over to other areas of science and will help spark an interest in biology, ecology and natural history. In a perfect storm, the whole family catches the bug and summer field trips turn to trips from March to October or as soon as the snow clears.

If you are looking to purchase some fossils — be mindful not to purchase Canadian specimens — then Etsy is a good general source. Since we are living in the new normal of Covid, I would also turn to Amazon as a book source and take a boo at their starter rock collections and rock tumblers.

Local museums are a wonderful source of inspiration and tend to favour local fossil specimens. I particularly like the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller, Alberta and the Courtenay and District Museum on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Seeing these is useful as it gives you the visual aid you'll need when collecting out in the field.  

Eyewitness Books: Fossils

If you are looking for resources and are readying this from a laptop, you'll see a column down the right-hand side of the page with a whole host of yummy options from books to gear. It is targeted at a slightly older audience, but I'll add some titles that might appeal to a younger audience. 

Ashley Hall did up quite a good children's book targeted for those aged 6-8 years old: Fossils for Kids: A Junior Scientist's Guide to Dinosaur Bones, Ancient Animals, and Prehistoric Life on Earth. It is available on Amazon and includes some wonderful images and covers all the introductory topics one would want to see in a first book on fossils. She also has a nice homage to her parents who inspired and encouraged her love of palaeontology. Dean Lomax and Darren Naish have published some worthy books that make a great addition to the family library.

Eye Witness has produced some wonderfully visual books on fossils. They are general, but that is the perfect place to start. Some folk love dinosaurs, others are into shark's teeth. Myself, I love all the wee invertebrates.  I love a good visual with a bite-size bit of information so you can digest it easily. I have sliced more than one Eyewitness book apart to laminate a section for use in kid's palaeontology courses. 

Some of these topics were touched upon in Season One of the Fossil Huntress Podcast. There is a wee cast on the legal side of palaeo that is worth a listen if you are planning to head out collecting or find yourself tempted to purchase Canadian specimens.

One of the best things about palaeontology is that it can be enjoyed at any age and everyone can contribute to science. Young, old, rich, poor, boy, girl, professional or vocational — fossils do not discriminate. You can be in elementary school and find a new dinosaur or marine reptile species. 

Some of the most significant finds in Canada and around the world are credited to youngsters — from the likes of Mary Anning to British Columbia's first marine reptile and dinosaur finds. The first elasmosaur in British Columbia was found by a young girl and her father. The dinosaurs up near Tumbler Ridge were found by two boys tubing along a river. 

Families and friends out for a stroll have found fossil bits and bones from many new species. The pterosaur Vectidraco was found by a four-year-old, who was honoured through the species name V. daisymorrisae. The Late Jurassic herbivorous dinosaur, Chilesaurus diegosuarezi, from Chile, was discovered by a seven-year-old while his parents briefly distracted — a lucky bit of timing for us all.  

So, if you're reading this, JD, I'm thrilled for you! Fuel the flames. Encourage her love of fossils, science and the natural world.

THE EARLIEST FLOWERING PLANTS

The earliest flowering plants show up in the fossil record 130 million years ago. These beauties became the dominant type of forest plant by about 90 million years ago. One of their number, the genus Crocus, is a particular favourite of mine.

Crocus — the plural of which is crocuses or croci — is a genus of flowering plants in the iris family and includes 90 species of perennials growing from corms. 

A corm is a short, swollen underground plant stem that helps plants survive summer drought and other less favourable conditions. The name Crocus is derived from the Latin adjective crocatus, meaning saffron yellow. The Greek word for "saffron" is krokos, while the Arabic word saffron or zafaran, means yellow. 

Many are cultivated for their flowers appearing in autumn, winter, or spring. The spice saffron is obtained from the stigmas of Crocus sativus, an autumn-blooming species. Each crocus flower plucked gently by hand yields three vivid strands of saffron with an acre of laborious work producing only a few pounds.

The challenge of harvesting saffron from crocus and its high-market value dates back to 2100-1600 BC as the Egyptians, Greeks, and the Minoans of Crete all cultivated crocus not as a spice, but as a dye. 

Roman women used saffron to dye their hair and textiles yellow. The crocus corm has a history of trade throughout Europe that a few pounds of corms served as a loan of gold or jewels. It made it's way into the writing of the Greeks as early as 300 BC where it originated. 

The precious flower travelled to Turkey and then all the way to Great Britain in the 1500s before making their way to the rest of the world. The first crocus in the Netherlands came from corms brought back from the Roman Empire in the 1560s. A few corms were forwarded to Carolus Clusius at the botanical garden in Leiden. By 1620, new garden varieties had been developed, such as the cream-coloured crocus similar to varieties we see in flower markets and local gardens today. 

METASEQUOIA GLYPTOSTROBOIDES

Metasequoia, Dawn Redwood, is a fast-growing, deciduous tree native to Lichuan county in Hubei province in central China. It is the sole living species of Metasequoia glyptostroboides and one of three species of conifers known as redwoods.

Metasequoia has experienced morphological stasis for the past 65 million years, meaning they have not changed much. The modern Metasequoia glyptostroboides looks identical to its late Cretaceous ancestors.

They are remarkably similar to and sometimes mistaken for Sequoia at first glance but are easily distinguishable if you look to their needles. Metasequoia has paired needles that attach opposite to each other on the compound stem. Sequoia needles are offset and attach alternately. Think of the pattern or jumping versus walking. Metasequoia needles are paired as if you were jumping forward, one print beside the other, while Sequoia needles have the one-in-front-of-the-other pattern of walking.

Although the least tall of the redwoods, it grows to at least Sixty meters (200 feet) in height. Local villagers refer to the original tree from which most others derive as Shui-sa, or "water fir", which is part of a local shrine. Since its rediscovery in 1944, the dawn redwood has become a popular ornamental tree in the Pacific Northwest.

Metasequoia fossils are known from many areas in the Northern Hemisphere. And folk love naming them. More than twenty fossil species have been named over time —  some even identified as the genus Sequoia in error — but for all their collective efforts to beef up this genus there are just three species: Metasequoia foxii, Metasequoia milleri, and Metasequoia occidentalis.

Alder & Metasequoia Fossils from McAbee

During the Paleocene and Eocene, extensive forests of Metasequoia thrived as far north as Strathcona Fiord on Ellesmere Island and sites on Axel Heiberg Island (northern Canada) at around 80° N latitude.

We find lovely examples of Metasequoia occidentalis in the Eocene outcrops at McAbee near Cache Creek, British Columbia, Canada. The McAbee Fossil Beds are known for their incredible abundance, diversity and quality of fossils including lovely plant, insect and fish species that lived in an old lake bed setting 52-53 million years ago.

The McAbee fossil beds are 30 metres of fossiliferous shale in the Eocene Kamloops Group. The fossils are preserved here as impressions and carbonaceous films.

We see gymnosperm (16 species); a variety of conifers (14 species to my knowledge); two species of ginkgo, a large variety of angiosperm (67 species); a variety of insects and fish remains, the rare feather and a boatload of mashed deciduous material. Nuts and cupules are also found from the dicotyledonous Fagus and Ulmus and members of the Betulaceae, including Betula and Alnus.

We see many species that look very similar to those growing in the Pacific Northwest today. Specifically, cypress, dawn redwood, fir, spruce, pine, larch, hemlock, alder, birch, dogwood, beech, sassafras, cottonwood, maple, elm and grape. By far, we see the lovely Metasequoia the most.

Metasequoia was first described as a fossil from the Mesozoic Era by Shigeru Miki in 1941. Later in 1944, a small stand of an unidentified tree species was discovered in China in Modaoxi (磨刀溪; presently, Moudao (谋道), in Lichuan County, Hubei province by Zhan Wang.

Hubei province, central China.

While the find was exciting, it was overshadowed by China's ongoing conflict. In 1937, a clash between Chinese and Japanese troops at the Marco Polo Bridge, just outside Beijing, led to an all-out war.

A year later, by mid-1938, the Chinese military situation was dire. Most of eastern China lay in Japanese hands: Shanghai, Nanjing, Wuhan. Many outside observers assumed that China could not hold out, and the most likely scenario was a Japanese victory over China.

Yet the Chinese hung on, and after Pearl Harbor, the war became genuinely global. The western Allies and China were now united in their war against Japan, a conflict that would finally end on September 2, 1945.

With World War II behind them, the Chinese researchers were able to re-focus their energies on the sciences. In 1946, Wan Chun Cheng and Hu Hsen Hsu went back to examine the trees from Lichuan County. Two years later, they published a paper describing a new living species of Metasequoia. That same year, Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University sent an expedition to collect seeds and, soon after, seedling trees were distributed to various universities and arboreta worldwide for growth trials.

FOSSIL FLOWERS AND POLLINATORS

Flower encased in amber

Plant fossils are found coast-to-coast in Canada, from 45-million-year-old mosses in British Columbia to fossil forests on Axel Heiberg and Ellesmere islands in the Canadian Arctic.

The early angiosperms developed advantages over contemporary groups — rapid reproductive cycles —  which made them highly efficient, adapting well to "weedy" growth. These modifications, including flowers for the attraction of insect pollinators, proved advantageous in many habitats.

Interaction between plant and pollinator has been a driving force behind the astounding diversification of both flowering plants and insects. Together, they tell one of the most interesting co-evolutionary stories on Earth, and one of vital importance to us. We must give thanks to our precious bees for their work pollinating about one-third of our diet and adding nutritious and delicious fruits and vegetables to our menu. 

Some of the earliest known flowering plants are found in northeastern British Columbia coalfields. Late Cretaceous (about 101–66 million years ago) floras of the Dawson Creek area of British Columbia, and Milk River, Alberta, reveal increasing dominance by angiosperms. 

These fossils, while generally resembling some living angiosperms, represent old, extinct families, and their relationships to living groups remain unclear.

Early pollinators co-evolved with flowering plants

At the end of the Cretaceous, the climate cooled, inland seas covering much of western Canada drained, and dinosaurs became extinct. At the boundary between the Cretaceous and Paleogene is evidence of extinction amongst land plants, too. 

During this interval of mass extinction, the Earth was struck by a massive meteorite. The fallout from this impact is preserved in boundary sediments in southern Saskatchewan as a pale clay, rich in rare earth elements such as iridium.

In the early Paleogene period (66–56 million years ago), we entered the age of mammals. Paralleling the rise of mammals is the rise of modern flora, which consists overwhelmingly of our glorious flowering plants. One of the most prolific fossil sites for Paleogene flowering plants, fruits and seeds is the Messel pit in Germany. In 2012, a research group found over 140 different plant species, 65 of which were previously unknown.

Early Paleogene fossils are found over much of Alberta —  Red Deer River, Lake Wabamun coalfields and Robb to Coal Valley coalfields —  and southern Saskatchewan —  Eastend area to Estevan coalfield —  to as far north as Ellesmere Island. These floras reveal a variety of flowering plants, including members of the sycamore, birch and walnut families, but the most abundant fossil plants are the katsuras and the dawn redwood, now native only to southeastern Asia.

In the mid-Paleogene period (56–34 million years ago) brief climatic warming coincided with the rapid diversification of flowering plants. Eocene fossils in British Columbia (Princeton, Kamloops and Smithers areas) reveal increasing numbers of modern plant families, with extinct species of birch, maple, beech, willow, chestnut, pine and fir.

Fossil Leaves, Princeton, British Columbia, Canada

Exceptionally well-preserved fossil forests found on Axel Heiberg and Ellesmere islands in the Canadian Arctic illustrate clearly the contrast between modern Canadian vegetation and the floras of a much warmer past. These fossil forests, 40 to 60 million years old, consist of large stumps, many over 1 m in diameter, preserved where they grew, still rooted in ancient soil.

Thick mats of leaf litter that formed the forest floor reveal the types of plants inhabiting the forests.

Lush redwood and cypress swamps covered the lowlands, while the surrounding uplands were dominated by a mixed conifer and hardwood forest resembling that of modern eastern North America. Even accounting for continental drift, these forests grew well above the Arctic Circle, and bear witness to a time in Canada's past when a cold arctic climatic regime did not exist.

Around 45-50 million years ago, during the middle Eocene, a number of freshwater lakes appeared in an arc extending from Smithers in northern British Columbia, south through the modern Cariboo, to Kamloops, the Nicola Valley, Princeton and finally, Republic, Washington.

The lakes likely formed after a period of faulting created depressions in the ground, producing a number of basins or grabens into which water collected — imagine gorgeous smallish lakes similar to Cultus Lake near Chilliwack, British Columbia.

The groaning Earth, pressured by the collision of tectonic plates produced a series of erupting volcanoes around the Pacific Northwest. These spouting volcanoes blew fine-grained ash into the atmosphere and it rained down on the land.

Eocene Plant Fossils, McAbee, BC

The ash washed into the lakes and because of its texture, and possibly because of low water oxygen levels on the bottoms that slowed decay beautifully preserved the dead remains of plant, invertebrate, and fish fossils —  some in wonderful detail with fascinating and well-preserved flora.

Near the town of Princeton, British Columbia, we see the results of that fine ash in the many fossil exposures. The fossils you find here are Middle Eocene, Allenby Formation with a high degree of detail in their preservation. Here we find fossil maple, alder, fir, pine, dawn redwood and ginkgo material. The Allenby Formation of the Princeton Group is regarded as Middle Eocene based on palynology (Rouse and Srivastava, 1970), mammals (Russell, 1935; Gazin, 1953); freshwater fishes (Wilson, 1977, 1982) and potassium-argon dating (Hills and Baadsgaard, 1967).

Several species of fossilized insects can be found in the area and rare, occasional fossil flowers and small, perfectly preserved fish. More than 50 flowers have been reported (Basinger, 1976) from the Princeton chert locality that crops out on the east side of the Similkameen River about 8 km south of Princeton, British Columbia.

The first descriptions of fossil plants from British Columbia were published in 1870–1920 by J.W. Dawson, G.M. Dawson, and D.P. Penhallow. Permineralized plants were first described from the Princeton chert in the 1970s by C.N. Miller, J.F. Basinger, and others, followed by R.A. Stockey and her students. W.C. Wehr and K.R. Johnson revitalized the study of fossils at Republic with the discovery of a diverse assemblage in 1977.

In 1987, J.A. Wolfe and Wehr produced a United States Geological Survey monograph on Republic, and Wehr cofounded the Stonerose Interpretive Center as a venue for public collecting. Systematic studies of the Okanagan Highlands plants, as well as paleoecological and paleoclimate reconstructions from palynomorphs and leaf floras, continue to expand our understanding of this important Early Eocene assemblage.

One of the sister sites to McAbee, the Driftwood Canyon Provincial Park Fossil Beds, offers an honours system for their site. Visitors may handle and view fossils but are asked to not take them home. Both Driftwood Canyon and McAbee are part of that arc of Eocene lakebed sites that extend from Smithers in the north, down to the fossil site of Republic Washington, in the south. The grouping includes the fossil sites of Driftwood Canyon, Quilchena, Allenby, Tranquille, McAbee, Princeton and Republic. Each of these localities provides important clues to our ancient climate.

The fossils range in age from Early to Middle Eocene. McAbee had a more temperate climate, slightly cooler and wetter than other Eocene sites to the south at Princeton, British Columbia, Republic in north-central Washington, in the Swauk Formation near Skykomish and the Chuckanut Formation of northern Washington state. The McAbee fossil beds consist of 30 metres of fossiliferous shale in the Eocene Kamloops Group.

The fossils are preserved here as impressions and carbonaceous films. We see gymnosperm (16 species); a variety of conifers (14 species to my knowledge); two species of ginkgo, a large variety of angiosperm (67 species); a variety of insects and fish remains, the rare feather and a boatload of mashed deciduous material. Nuts and cupules are also found from the dicotyledonous Fagus and Ulmus and members of Betulaceae, including Betula and Alnus.

We see many species that look very similar to those growing in the Pacific Northwest today. You can find well-preserved specimens of cypress, dawn redwood, fir, spruce, pine, larch, hemlock, alder, birch, dogwood, beech, sassafras, cottonwood, maple, elm and grape. If we look at the pollen data, we see over a hundred highly probable species from the site. Though rare, McAbee has also produced spiders, birds (and lovely individual feathers) along with multiple specimens of the freshwater crayfish, Aenigmastacus crandalli.

For insects, we see dragonflies, damselflies, cockroaches, termites, earwigs, aphids, leafhoppers, spittlebugs, lacewings, a variety of beetles, gnats, ants, hornets, stick insects, water striders, weevils, wasps and March flies. The insects are particularly well-preserved. Missing are the tropical Sabal (palm), seen at Princeton.

200 km to the south, fossil leaves and fish were first recognized at Republic, Washington, by miners in the early 1900s. We find the impressive Ensete (banana) and Zamiaceae (cycad) at Eocene sites in Republic and Chuckanut, Washington. Many early workers considered these floras to be of Oligocene or Miocene age. C.A. Arnold described Canadian occurrences of conifers and Azolla in the 1950s. Palynological studies in the 1960s by L.V. Hills, G.E.Rouse, and others and those of fossil fish by M.V.H. Wilson in the 1970–1980s provided the framework for paleobotanical research at several key localities.

With the succession of ice ages that swept down across North America in the Pleistocene, there were four intervening warm periods. These warmer periods help many species, including the genus Oenothera, enjoy four separate waves of colonization — each hybridizing with the survivors of previous waves. This formed the present-day subsection Euoenothera. The group is genetically and morphologically diverse and contains some of the most interesting of the angiosperms.

Today, there are about 145 species of herbaceous flowering plants in the genus Oenothera, all native to the Americas. It is the type genus of the family Onagraceae. We know them by many names — evening primrose, suncups, and sundrops  —  but they are not closely related to the true primroses (genus Primula).

Oenothera flowers are pollinated by insects, such as moths and bees. One of the most interesting things I have learned (thank you, Jim Barkley) is a clever little evolutionary trait exhibited by the beach evening primrose, Oenothera drummondil. These lovelies can actively sense and respond to the buzzing of bees. Marine Veits et al. were able to show that this species has evolved to respond to the sound of bees by producing nectar with a higher sugar concentration, certainly yummy by bee standards — therein attracting more pollinators and increasing the plant species reproductive success.

David R. Greenwood, Kathleen B. Pigg, James F. Basinger, and Melanie L. DeVore: A review of paleobotanical studies of the Early Eocene Okanagan (Okanogan) Highlands floras of British Columbia, Canada, and Washington, USA.

Sauquet H, von Balthazar M, Magallón S, et al. The ancestral flower of angiosperms and its early diversification. Nat Commun. 2017;8:16047. Published 2017 Aug 1. doi:10.1038/ncomms16047

Marine Veits  Itzhak Khait  Uri Obolski, et al. Flowers respond to pollinator sound within minutes by increasing nectar sugar concentration. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13331

SEAWEED: MACROALGAE

The entire biosphere is largely dependent on plants and algae for food and oxygen, yet land plants did not evolve until about 450 million years ago. 

We have algae and seaweeds in every ocean on Earth ranging in colour from red to green to brown to black. 

Seaweed or macroalgae are several species of macroscopic, multicellular, marine algae sometimes called sea vegetables. Photosynthetic plants are, of course, vital to the ecological balance of the planet because they produce organic carbon and oxygen through photosynthesis, and they provide food and the basis of shelter for untold numbers of mammals, fish, and more. Together, they form a tremendous food resource for oceanic life.

Yet, going back 2 billion years, Earth had no green plants at all in oceans. The ubiquitous green seaweeds we see today had their start around a billion years ago, entering the fossil record as tiny seaweeds living in shallow seas. These first micro-fossil-seaweeds, a form of algae known as Protoerocladus antiquus, are barely visible to the naked eye, measuring a wee 2 millimetres. They look a bit like tiny shoelaces curled in a loose bundle.

Seaweed grows along rocky shorelines around the world, but it is most commonly eaten in the Asian countries of Japan, Korea and China — though countries like Ireland are starting to get on the seaweed bandwagon. I have a jar of crushed Japanese seaweed sold commercially as a superfood and suggested additive for increasing the nutrition of meals while adding a salty, umami flavour. Globally, we consume nearly 30 million tonnes of these ocean vegetables.

Seaweed contains a wide range of vitamins and minerals — vitamin A (beta carotene), vitamin C, iodine, potassium, magnesium, iron, calcium and vitamin B12. It is also a prized vegan source of omega-3 fats, though as a Norwegian omnivore I prefer mine from northern fish oils. While seaweed does contain all that goodness, these aquatic veggies also like to soak up metals and metalloids, and by ingesting them (or soaking in them) we absorb those nasties as they like to lodge in our fatty tissues and internal organs. Some, such as Cadmium (Cd), Mercury (Hg) and Lead (Pb) can be toxic at even trace levels.

West Cork, Ireland

Beyond seeing seaweed as a food resource, some ingenious folk from the shores of Cork, Ireland, where my little sister and her family live, fill old whisky barrels with piping hot seawater and organic seaweed for folk to soak up both the view and the detoxifying iodine and essential minerals released by the hot seaweed. 

Stinky, but relaxing and an Irish tradition that has gone on for centuries. The environmental conditions in which the Irish seaweeds are collected offers some protection over the risk of absorbing heavy metals in those salty viscous baths.  

The term includes some types of Rhodophyta (red), Phaeophyta (brown) and Chlorophyta (green) macroalgae. Seaweed species such as kelps provide essential nursery habitat for fisheries and other marine species and thus protect food sources; other species, such as planktonic algae, play a vital role in capturing carbon, producing up to 90% of Earth's oxygen. Understanding these roles offers principles for conservation and sustainable use as this planet evolves forward. 

References: Tang, Q., Pang, K., Yuan, X. et al. A one-billion-year-old multicellular chlorophyte. Nat Ecol Evol, 2020 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-020-1122-9

GIANT'S CAUSEWAY

The Giant's Causeway, Irish Clochán an Aifir, is a spectacular 6 km (4 miles) expanse of interlocking hexagonal basalt columns formed from volcanic eruptions during the Paleocene some 50-60 million years ago. 

Here, approximately 40,000 stone hexagonal stone pillars line the edge of the Antrim plateau between Causeway Head and Benbane Head, some 40 kilometres or 25 miles northeast of Londonderry on the River Foyle in Northern Ireland.

The Giant's Causeway is one of Northern Ireland's best-known tourist attractions, receiving a million visitors a year and generating half a billion pounds in tourism monies for the northern coastal region each year. 

These columns tell a story of the cooling and freezing of the molten lava flows that formed them. As lava at the surface cools and freezes, it also shrinks as its molecules rearrange themselves into a solid structure. This happens much more quickly at the surface where the lava comes in contact with moist, cool air. As the basalt cools and shrinks, pressure increases in intensity and cracks begin to form. A way to dissipate this huge stress is to crack at an angle of 120 degrees, the angle that gives us a hexagon.

We see this beautifully illustrated at the Giant's Causeway in Ireland. Here, highly fluid molten basalt intruded through chalk beds which later cooled, contracted and cracked into hexagonal columns, creating a surreal visual against a dark and stormy Irish Sea. This geologic wonder was named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986 and a national nature reserve in 1987 by the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland. 

Most but not all of the Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast World Heritage Site is owned and managed by the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty. is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland founded in 1895.

URSUS ARCTOS CARNIVORA

Grizzly Bear / North American Brown Bear

A slow stroll down to the river to fish, this Grizzly (North American brown bear) is an excellent fisher. Her high fat, protein-rich diet has contributed to her lovely coat and larger size. 

Grizzlies are the kings of the Keto diet. She and her kin are omnivores, eating plants, animals and even human food if they can get at it. She'll likely gain around 400 lbs or 180 kg before winter comes in preparation for hibernation and to produce milk for her offspring.

At age five, female (sows) grizzlies begin mating and bearing young, usually two cubs every other year. The cubs arrive over the winter and feast on their mother's milk all snuggled inside a wintery den.

The great ancestors of the North American brown bear are the Ursavus, a bear-dog the size of a raccoon who lived more than 20 million years ago. Taking a look at this beauty, it seems an implausible lineage.

CAUGHT AT THE SCENE: KOALA

Koala, Phasscolarctos cinereus, are truly adorable marsupials native to Australia. These cuddly "teddy bears" are not bears at all.

Koalas belong to a group of mammals known as marsupials. 

Fossil remains of Koala-like animals have been found dating back 25 million years. Some of the relatives of modern koalas were much larger, including the Giant Koala, Phascolarctos stirtoni. It should likely have been named the Robust Koala, instead of Giant, but this big boy was larger than modern koalas by about a third. Phascolarctos yorkensis, from the Miocene, was twice the size of the modern koalas we know today. Both our modern koalas and their larger relatives co-existed during the Pleistocene, sharing trees and enjoying the tasty vegetation surrounding them.

As the climate changed and Australia became drier, ancient vegetation evolved to what we know as eucalyptus, becoming the Koalas food source. 

Koalas have pouches on their bellies where their newborns develop. Their wee newborns are called joeys and are born blind and earless. They use their strong sense of touch and smell to guide them instinctively up into their mother's pouch when they are born and live here for about six months. 

When they are a little stronger and braver, they get curious, foraging about. They also like to ride on their mother's back until they are about a year old, seeing the world from the safety of Mamma. Adult Koalas love eucalyptus trees and spend their leisurely days eating and napping amongst the foliage.

Koalas are herbivorous, and while most of their diet consists of eucalyptus leaves, they can be found in trees of other genera, such as Acacia, Allocasuarina, Callitris, Leptospermum, and Melaleuca. Though the foliage of over 600 species of Eucalyptus is available, the koala shows a strong preference for around 30 of their tastier species. They tend to choose species that have high protein content and low proportions of fibre and lignin. The most favoured species are Eucalyptus microcorys, E. tereticornis, and E. camaldulensis, which, on average, make up more than 20% of their diet. 

A peaceful koala napping

Despite their reputation as fussy eaters, koala are much more generalist than some other marsupials and a lot less picky than the Greater gliders — the large gliding marsupials found in Australia. 

Since eucalyptus leaves have a high water content, the koala does not need to drink often; its daily water turnover rate ranges from 71 to 91 ml/kg of body weight. 

Although females can meet their water requirements from eating leaves, larger males require additional water found on the ground or in tree hollows. When feeding, a koala holds onto a branch with hind paws and one forepaw while the other forepaw grasps foliage. Small koalas can move close to the end of a branch, but larger ones stay near the thicker bases. Koalas consume up to 400 grams (14 oz) of leaves a day, spread over four to six feeding sessions. Despite their adaptations to a low-energy lifestyle, they have meagre fat reserves and need to feed often.

Koalas are enviable lazy. Because they get so little energy from their diet, koalas must limit their energy use and sleep or rest 20 hours a day. They are predominantly active at night and spend most of their waking hours feeding. They typically eat and sleep in the same tree, possibly for as long as a day. On very hot days, a koala may climb down to the coolest part of the tree which is cooler than the surrounding air. The koala hugs the tree to lose heat without panting. 

On warm days, koalas may bask in the sun with its back against a branch or lie on its stomach or back with its limbs dangling. If it gets chilly or wet, they may curl up into a tight ball to conserve energy. On windy days, a koala finds a lower, thicker branch on which to rest. While they spend most of the time in trees, koalas come down to the ground to move to explore or change to another tree. Koala like to keep themselves tidy. They groom themselves with their hind paws, forepaws and mouth.

Interestingly, koala fingerprints are very similar to our own. Compared side by side, it would take a good detective to sort which species is which. In several adorable who-dun-it cases, their prints have been confused at crime scenes as that of the potential perpetrator. Close relatives like gorillas and chimps have prints as well. What is even more amazing about koala prints is that they have evolved independently on the evolutionary stream. Primates and modern koalas' marsupial ancestors branched off way back, some 70 million years ago. It appears that the koala's fingerprints are a relatively recent evolutionary feature. Many of their closest relatives, the lovely wombats and kangaroos, do not have them.

BROWN, BLACK, POLAR & PANDA

Bears are one of my favourite mammals. Had they evolved in a slightly different way, we might well have chosen them as pets instead of the dogs so many of us have in our lives today. 

For them and for us, I think things worked out for the best that they enjoy the rugged wild country they call home. 

Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They range in height from one to three metres. 

Bears are the world’s largest land carnivores — animals that eat meat — dining on meat as well as roots, seeds, berries, insects and fish. Bears have broad heads, large bodies, and short legs and tails. They have poor eyesight and an excellent sense of smell. They are classified as caniforms or doglike carnivorans, related to dogs and raccoons. 

Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern Hemisphere and partially in the Southern Hemisphere —  making a home in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. 

The relatives of our black and brown bears, a dog-bear, entered the fossil record about 20 million years ago. We've found polar bear bones that tell us more about when they split off in the lineage.

DNA from a 110,000–130,000-year-old polar-bear fossil has been successfully sequenced. The genome, from a jawbone found in Svalbard, Norway, in 2004, indicates when polar bears, Ursus maritimus, diverged from their nearest common relative, the brown bear — Ursus arctos.

Because polar bears live on ice and their remains are unlikely to be buried in sediment and preserved, polar-bear fossils are very rare. So the discovery of a jawbone and canine tooth — the entirety of the Svalbard find — is impressive. 

But far more important, is that when molecular biologist Charlotte Lindqvist, then at the University of Oslo's Natural History Museum and now at the University at Buffalo in New York, drilled into the jaw, she was able to collect intact mitochondrial DNA. Yes, a bit Jurassic Park-esque.

Mitochondria — organelles found in animal cells — have their own DNA and can replicate. And because there are many mitochondria per cell, mitochondrial DNA is easier to find in fossils than nuclear DNA. 

Lindqvist wondered whether this mitochondrial DNA could illuminate the evolutionary history of how and when polar bears diverged from brown bears. To find out, she worked with Stephan Schuster, a molecular biologist at Pennsylvania State University in University Park, and a team of colleagues to sequence the genetic material she had collected and was successful.

It is the oldest mammalian mitochondrial genome yet sequenced — about twice the age of the oldest mammoth genome, which dates to around 65,000 years old. From Lindqvist's work, we learned that polar bears split off the lineage from brown bears about 150,000 years ago. They evolved rapidly in the Late Pleistocene, taking advantage of their hunting prowess to become the apex predators of the northern arctic region.

In the Kwak'wala language of the Kwakiutl First Nations of the Pacific Northwest — or Kwakwaka'wakw, speakers of Kwak'wala — a grizzly bear is known as na̱n and the ornamental grizzly bear headdress worn by the comic Dluwalakha grizzly bear dancers in the Grizzly Bear Dance, Gaga̱lalał, is known as na̱ng̱a̱mł. A black bear is known as t̕ła'yi — though I do not know the word for Polar Bear in Kwak'wala.

BACK IN THE USSR: KEPPLERITES

This glorious chocolate block contains the creamy grey ammonite Kepplerites gowerianus (Sowerby 1827) with a few invertebrate friends, including two brachiopods: Ivanoviella sp., Zeilleria sp. and the deep brown gastropod Bathrotomaria sp. 

There is also a wee bit of petrified wood on the backside. These beauties hail from Jurassic, Lower Callovian outcrops in the Quarry of Kursk Magnetic Anomaly (51.25361,37.66944), Kursk region, Russia. Diameter ammonite 70мм. Back in the USSR — in the mid-1980s — during the expansion and development of one of the quarries, an unusual geological formation was found. This area had been part of the seafloor around an ancient island surrounded by Jurassic Seas. 

The outcrops of this geological formation turned out to be very rich in marine fossils. This ammonite block was found there years ago by the deeply awesome Emil Black. It has been many years since he has been able to collect there as the site is now closed to fossil collecting and employed solely for the processing and extraction of iron ore deposits.