AURORA BOREALIS

TIME FOR LUNCH

Tormented cries from mother as her cub is butchered and eaten...

Does it pull at your heart strings? Mine, too.

A rally of cries about a shark attack generally bring something less warm and fuzzy, something closer to terror and visions of a nasty end for some surfer. No surfer this time.

The 20th Century's most significant marine find became surf and turf himself at a recent feast in a village off the coast of Donsol in the Bicol Region of the Philippines.

More than a rare sighting, this is the 41st specimen ever known. A massive Megamouth, a rare breed of filter-feeding shark, was caught and killed then served up to locals eager to consume the traditional delicacy despite protests from the World Wildlife Federation.

While WWF tried to convey the magnitude of the slaying the world has to wonder if more should have been done. This was more than a rare sighting, this specimen was the 41st ever recorded of Megachasma pelagios.

Panda! Not this time. It was a deliverate ploy to get you to ponder your feelings on slugs vs. bunnies. If it is what enticed you to take a peek, however, perhaps we need to rethink our treatment of the ugly ducklings out there.

We tend to favour cute and cuddly. Dark grey, menacing distant cousins of Jaws don't bring out the maternal instinct quite as readily. Had this been a sighting of a rare panda set to be slaughtered to make soup with his paws, I'm sure Megamouth would have made both CNN and the BBC.

Might isn't right, but something more than sway was needed here.

HURDIA: BIZARRE FIND EXCITES SCIENTISTS

Scientists from Sweden’s Uppsala University have pieced together a bizarre marine predator who trolled the seas some 505-million years ago. Hurdia, had a giant head, protruding shield and claws for capturing prey. Bits and pieces of Hurdia have shown up in museums all over the world. Until now, they’ve been left unidentified or wildly mislabeled. Allison Daley, the lead author on the study, is set to publish in this month’s journal Science.

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water…

MAMMALS

Mammals come in all shapes and sizes, and can be found all over the earth and come in all shapes and sizes. There are around 5500 species of mammals in all. You are a mammal, all of your friends are mammals and so is your dog. All mammals are warm-blooded and have either hair or fur on their bodies. The majority of all mammals give birth to live young, but there are a few species of mammals that lay eggs. The Triassic period, 220 million years ago, was the age that the first mammals can be found.

During the Triassic period, about 220 million years ago, the first Mammal species were roaming the Earth. These mammal ancestors were preceded by a group called the 'synapsids'. There were three distinct groups of creatures prior to the Triassic period, of which 'synapsid' is one. The others are 'diapsids' and 'anapsids'. The terminology makes reference to the holes on their skulls where the jaw muscles attach. 'Synapsids' (mammals) have one hole on either side, 'diapsids' (dinosaurs, reptiles, birds) have two holes on either side, and 'anapsids' (turtles) have none.

Mammal Classification list

- Subclass/Order Monotremata: egg-laying mammals
- Order Monotremata: echidnas and platypus
- Subclass Marsupialia: marsupials
- Order Didelphimorphia: New World opossums
- Order Paucituberculata: shrew opossums
- Order Microbiotheria: Monito del Monte
- Order Dasyuromorphia: marsupial carnivores
- Order Notoryctemorphia: marsupial mole
- Order Peramelemorphia: bandicoots and bilbies
- Order Diprotodontia: koalas, wombats, kangaroos
- Subclass Placentalia
- Order Xenarthra: sloths, anteaters, armadillos
- Superorder Glires
- Order Rodentia: rodents
- Order Lagomorpha: rabbits, hares
- Superorder Euarchonta:
- Order Primates: primates
- Order Scandentia: treeshrews
- Order Dermoptera: colugos
- Order Insectivora: shrews, tenrecs, moles
- Order Chiroptera: bats
- Order Carnivora: dogs, cats, weasels, seals
- Order Pholidota: pangolins
- Superorder Ungulata: ungulates
- Order Tubulidentata: aardvark
- Order Macroscelidea: elephant shrews
- Order Hyracoidea: hyraxes
- Order Proboscidea: elephants
- Order Sirenia: manatees, dugong
- Order Perissodactyla: horses, rhinos
- Order Artiodactyla: even-toed ungul
- Order Cetacea: whales

From Learn Animals! http://www.learnanimals.com/mammals.php

WORLD THROUGH A LENS

ALPILLES

CLAM STEW: THE FOSSILS OF SOOKE

Sunshine, salt air, the bark of seals and fossils await for those lucky enough to beach comb the sandstones of Sooke on Vancouver Islands' southwestern edge.

Friends had the chance to collect there recently and found a number these lovely marine fossils near the exposure at Muir Creek.

Here you can see a budding paleontologist, holding some of his finds - blocks of late Oligocene, 20-25 million year old, sandstone full of small gastropods, bivalves and barnacle bits of the Sooke Formation.

By the late Oligocene ocean temperatures had cooled to near modern levels and the taxa preserved as fossils bear a strong resemblance to those found living beneath the Strait of Juan de Fuca today. Mammal material, echinoids, coral, chitin and limpets are also found here.

The largely intertidal assemblage of fossil species tell us that the formation was layed down near shore and the thickly strewn layers we see as blocks and in the nearby cliffs suggest that they may have been deposited along a strand line.

TY COLLWYN WATERFRONT RETREAT

If you are looking for a great place to stay, try the Ty Collwyn Waterfront Retreat, a fabulous B&B nestled on Sooke Harbour.

Ty Collwyn Waterfront Retreat offers private, oceanfront, two bedroom cottages within walking distance from the heart of Sooke, on Vancouver Island. We are located just forty minutes west of Victoria; the capital city of British Columbia, Canada.

Each cottage has an ocean view of Sooke Harbour and the Juan de Fuca Strait, private deck and hot tub. Yes, something like heaven!

The grounds include a heated indoor pool, coin-operated laundry facilities, private dock, and waterfront with a fire pit, all surrounded by lush trees and an acre of grass area.

When you are not relaxing and enjoying your oceanfront view, take advantage of all that Sooke has to offer. Enjoy a scenic drive to our beautiful West Coast beaches, visit the Sooke Potholes, catch a wave surfing, go ocean kayaking, try a fishing charter, check out the Sooke Museum, walk along the wonderful Whiffin Spit, or travel any of the region's hiking trails on foot, rollerblade, or bicycle.

Later, you can dine at the world renowned Sooke Harbour House Restaurant, famous Mom's Café, or create your own barbeque feast right on your deck.

Visit www.stayinsooke.com or email: info@sayinsooke.com

AVIGNON

EIGHTH BC PALEONTOLOGICAL SYMPOSIUM

Eighth
British
Columbia
Paleontological
Symposium

Presented by the Vancouver Paleontological Society,
University of British Columbia, Earth and Ocean Sciences, and
British Columbia Paleontological Alliance
MAY 15-18, 2009

Call for Posters & Abstracts

2009 BCPA CONFERENCE - The Vancouver Paleontological Society invites you the Eighth British Columbia Paleontological Symposium, to be held at the University of British Columbia, May 15-18, 2009.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER - This year’s keynote speaker will be Dr. Gregory Wilson, a specialist on the evolution and ecology of early mammals, University of Washington, Department of Biology. Continuing the format of past symposia, the meeting will bring together both the professional and avocational paleontological community.

As well as an engaging line-up of speakers, there will also be field trips, workshops, retail booth and the return of the popular Paleo Art Show with juried prizes. A Community Open House will be held on the Sunday for members of the general public.

FOSSIL MAMMALS - While the symposium will highlight fossil mammals, we invite talks, posters and displays showcasing all aspects of paleontology, with non-academics especially encouraged to contribute.

SYMPOSIUM ABSTRACT VOLUME - There will be a symposium abstract volume published and provided to all registrants. We request that speakers and poster presenters submit abstracts for the publication. Abstracts can be 1-4 pages (with 1 being standard) in length. Mailing and e-mail address of the author should be included for insertion in the volume.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION of posters and abstracts for publication is April 10, 2009. Submission of an abstract is mandatory for speakers and poster displays. Paleontologists unable to make the meeting but interested in contributing to the abstract volume to share their research on fossil mammals are welcome to contribute.

REGISTRATION – FULL SYMPOSIUM PASS
Professional Paleontologists $100 | Non-BCPA attendees $100 | BCPA Members $80 | Students $60

SEND CHEQUE PAYABLE TO:
Vancouver Paleontological Society, Centrepoint P.O. Box 19653, Vancouver, BC, V5T 4E7

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
www.bcfossils.ca | http://www.vcn.bc.ca/vanps/ | fossilhuntress@hotmail.co.uk

ANGUS & ELLIOTT

LIGHT AND DARK

EATEN ALIVE: SHRIMP BEATS GOLIATH

What looked to be a small stroke of genius in the fight against global warming has resulted in huge disaster.

Planktos, a California-based company that sells “carbon credits” to businesses looking to reduce their carbon footprint and contribution to global emissions has been taken down by a swarm of shrimp. They had planned to harness the photosynthetic power of algae to lower greenhouse gases.

Algae come cheap, requiring light and water. They also require iron, which may be the sixth most abundant element in the Universe, but still relatively rare in the ocean. The small bits algae utilize are blown in by the wind and runoff from rivers and streams.

While some scientists and environmental groups object to their plan fearing harmful changes to the ecosystem, Planktos went ahead and dumped a hundred tons of iron dust mixed with seawater into international waters off the coast of the Argentina.

Expecting a plankton bloom and carbon credit riches to follow, their plans were literally eaten alive by a swarm of algae-loving shrimp. They did get their bloom, but it was not the algae they were expecting.

Instead of large diatom algae, they got millions and millions of haptophytes, a tiny algae common in the open ocean and extremely abundant in the fossil record. They are also the fellows responsible for the white foam you sometimes see on the edge of beaches.

Most importantly, however, they are the food of choice for the equally common copepod, a shrimp-like crustacean who complete with krill for forming the largest animal biomass on earth. And perhaps, having the largest appetite.

Sometimes brilliance arises from thinking outside the box. Sometimes not. The copepods ate all the haptophytes and Planktos' dreams. It seems the wee shrimp-like fellows didn’t get the memo. Instead they got an all you can eat coupon to a fine seafood buffet.

TERRESTRIAL TREASURE

AVIGNON: ROMAN ARCHAEOLOGY

MARINE BEAUTIES FROM JURASSIC SEAS

A surprisingly warm sunny morning sparked a return trip to the Cretaceous-Jurassic exposures near Harrison Lake, British Columbia. The lake and hotsprings at Harrison are an easy one to two hour drive from Vancouver. My work leads me a ways past the town exploring logging roads along the lake.

Without goggles you could easily lose an eye working the unyielding siltstones. Much of my collecting was spent wincing as small, bullet-like projectiles went pinging past my face… others making contact but not enough to deter my efforts. No pain no gain.

After a few hours of work I've done pretty well. Looking down at my pack I'd managed to unearth a fine selection of ammonites of the Callovian Mysterious Creek Formation, including the small, fairly well preserved Cadoceras (Paracadoceras) tonniense and smallish Cadoceras (Pseudocadoceras) grewingki. The other bits and pieces were mostly fragments but included one relatively complete specimen of the larger, smooth Cadoceras comma and some perfectly preserved belemnites, cigar-looking numbers from ancient squid. For interest, I've popped in an image of an ammonite from Fernie. I'll post one of the ones from Harrison when I did out my digital.

Interestingly, the ammonites from here are quite similar to the ones found within the lower part of the Chinitna Formation, Alaska and Jurassic Point, Kyuquot, on the west coast of Vancouver Island. I'll have to write up the trip I did with the VIPS to Kyuquot a few years back. We enjoyed fantastic scenery and wild west coast adventures. I'd like it on record that that was not the trip the coast guard had to be called, but it remains memorable from the great company, fantastic fossils and the fact that my car was stolen at some point. Ah, living.

The siltstone here at Harrison has also offered up a small section of vertebra from a poorly preserved marine reptile, a find I'm rather keen to make one day. So, after much hammer swinging, I've enjoyed a splendid day, collected beautiful specimens and feel a wee bit closer to the big find. Returning like a soldier from battle, I carefully package and log my booty, returning home the happier for it.

I'll be heading back to the fossil beds of the Myseterious Creek Formation at Harrison on Monday, May 18, 2009, as part of a fossil field trip for the 2009 BC Paleontological Symposium. If you're about, feel free to pop by and say hello. I drive the big black tank, and yes, it's alarmed!

BOWRON LAKE PORTAGE

505-MILLION YEAR OLD MYSTERY SOLVED

Scientists from Sweden’s Uppsala University have pieced together a bizarre marine predator who trolled the seas some 505-million years ago. Hurdia, an extinct species of anomalocaridid, had a giant head, protruding hollow spike-shaped head shield and spiny claws for capturing prey. They look to have made a living swimming in the water column clawing around for prey to scoop into their tube shaped mouths. They lived at the time of trilobites, tuzoia and other soft-bodied marine creatures long extinct.

Bits and pieces of Hurdia have shown up in museums all over the world. Until now, much like their more robust cousin, Anomalocaris, they’ve been left unidentified or wildly mislabeled. Imagine Leggo clicked together sideways, upside down or split in two. Scientific papers have documented the many attempts at getting it right with respect to their body design.

Allison Daley, lead author on the study, is happy to set the record straight and will publish the groups findings in this month’s journal Science.

FOSSILS

THE CAMBRIAN: 570 MILLION YEARS AGO

The Cambrian was a time of expansion for the Earths more complex animal forms. Molluscs and arthropods or their friends with hard shells and exoskeletons dominated the seas. The photo is of a Wanneria dunnae from the Eager Formation, Rifle Range site near Cranbrook from a trip in 1990.

Cambrian Fossil Sites in Western Canada:

Tanglefoot and Eager Formation Trilobites, Mount Field Burgess Shale Soft-bodied marine critters and the fossils from the Mount Stephen Trilobite beds.

MAMMOTHS AND MASS EXTINCTION

Much ado about something - New evidence points to a celestial end for the wooly mammoth and many large mammals.

A swarm of comets that smacked North America 12,900 years ago wiped out the wooly mammoth and early Native American cultures, according to a soil study released Thursday.

The report in the journal Science focuses on tiny "nanodiamonds," crystals tied to past comet impacts, at six sites across the continent in a soil layer dated to the start of a 1,300-year-long ice age.

Geologists and archaeologists have long argued about what caused the extinction of dozens of large North American "megafauna" species, such as saber-toothed cats and mammoths. Was it environmental conditions, human intervention, competition for resources or a combination of factors? It seems a commet is to blame.

"What we're reporting is consistent with a major cosmic impact that had major consequences for the environment and Earth's climate," says study leader Douglas Kennett of the University of Oregon in Eugene.

"A swarm of comets" or carbon-rich meteorites either delivered or created the nanodiamonds in a fiery impact, the study suggests. The report relies on photomicrograph analyses of soil samples from Arizona, Minnesota, Oklahoma, South Carolina and two Canadian sites. Photomicrography captures images seen through a microscope.

"This is the 'smoking gun' evidence for a massive impact event 12,900 years ago that triggered the (ice age) and the extinction of the megafauna," says nuclear scientist Richard Firestone of the Lawrence Berkeley (Calif.) National Laboratory, who was not part of the study.

If true, the impact date coincides with the abrupt halting of deposits of "Clovis" Native American artifacts, distinctively fluted tools and arrowheads. Dozens of large animal species vanished then in North America. Kennett and other impact researchers have suggested a continent-wide wildfire may have contributed to the extinction of large North American creatures. In Europe, there were disruptions to the prehistoric culture and the demise there of species such as the cave bear and Irish elk.

Some scientists urge caution.

"We simply do not have conclusive evidence that nanodiamond materials aren't everywhere at many times," says geologist Nicholas Pinter of Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. "Tons of meteorite dust falls to Earth every year, after all."

Although more than 30 North American species died out about 12,900 years ago, about 50 large species died out a few centuries later in South America, and on some unpeopled Caribbean islands, species such as sloths survived an additional 6,000 years, says archaeologist Stuart Fiedel, author of Prehistory of the Americas. "Humans, not extraterrestrial objects," best explain the staggered extinctions in the New World, he says.

Kennett says future studies will show evidence of the nanodiamonds from Europe and further afield 12,900 years ago. Impact shock waves, debris and wildfires sparked by comets breaking apart in the atmosphere would have hit North America hardest, he says, but the effects would have been felt worldwide.

Fossil Mammals are the theme of the Eighth BC Paleontological Symposium being held at the University of British Columbia, May 14-18, 2009. Come and learn about the great mammals that roamed North America and hear the debates on their demise. Visit www.bcfossils.ca for more information

The story references an Irish Elk. A 12,000 year old specimen in the collections at UBC will be on display at the Symposium.

Ref: Dan Vergano

VOLCANIC DEMISE: THE TRIASSIC-JURASSIC EXTINCTION

Located as they are in Canada’s most active earthquake zone, the Queen Charlotte Islands have had their share of shake-ups and scourings. Many of the Islands’ hillsides are scarred by slides. But the rock beneath speaks of an even more violent past. Very few people know that the rock in the Queen Charlottes holds the key to a catastrophic event from eons ago.We’ve heard tales and seen images of the cataclysmic damage caused by meteriorites smashing into the Earth’s surface.

Until recently, it was a meteorite impact that was blamed for the worldwide Triassic/Jurassic Mass Extinction. This wholesale dying out of species occurred some 200 million years ago. New evidence challenges the meteorite theory. Experts now believe that tectonic forces may have caused hundreds of volcanoes around the world to erupt simultaneously. The subsequent showers of volcanic ash would have altered the composition of the atmosphere dramatically and plunged the world into near total darkness for years until it settled from the sky.

The picture painted of the sun flickering fitfully through inky clouds, paling against the torrents of glowing lava, while everywhere life is smothered, poisoned, or starved, rivals the most apocalyptic imaginings of Hollywood or religion. We know from worldwide evidence that the extinction was dramatic and affected upwards of 70% of the world’s biota.

Perhaps counterintuitively, for one might think of water as a refuge from fire, smoke, and lava, it was marine lifeforms that suffered the most. This is particularly well documented in the rocks of the Queen Charlottes, especially at Kennecott Point and Kunga Island.

Radiolarian microfossils – tiny, siliceous, single-celled microrganisms – tell the tale. In the Upper Triassic rocks, which predate the extinction by about 10 million years, radiolarians are preserved in hundreds of forms. Just above them, in the early Jurassic rock layers laid down about the time of the great die-offs, only a fraction of the previous number of forms are represented. The more recent Jurassic rock shows a rebound of radiolarian diversity (though of course, in different forms) — a diversity which continues to flourish and expand in today’s oceans.

Radiolarian microfossils – tiny, siliceous, single-celled organisms – tell the tale. These wee timekeepers have been living in the world’s oceans for about 600 million years. Because they occur in continuous and well-dated sequences of rock in the Queen Charlottes, these exquisitely beautiful microfossils act like a yardstick, helping geologists accurately date rock from around the globe.

In the Upper Triassic rocks, which predate the extinction by about 10 million years, radiolarians are preserved in hundreds of forms. Just above them, in the Early Jurassic rock layers laid down about the time of the great die-offs, only a fraction of the previous number of forms are represented.

The Queen Charlottes are most noted for their fossil ammonites, the coiled cousins to modern day nautilus. These perfectly preserved specimens tell of a deep water environment and warm tropical seas. The younger Jurassic rock shows a rebound of radiolarian diversity (though of course, in different forms) - a diversity that continues to flourish and expand in today’s oceans.

COASTAL WOLVES: GENETIC DIFFERENCES

Have you ever seen headless salmon littering the banks of rivers and streams during spawning season? Most who have generally blame our local bears for this selective dining. The real culprits are coastal wolves who gorge themselves on the nutrient-rich brains, leaving the rest to scavengers.

It seems this preference for fish and a redish tinge to their pelts set our local wolves apart. Coastal wolves, from Alaska and Vancouver Island, have not only adapted to their local environment but have evolved into something altogether new.

Think Darwin's finches.

Researchers from the Raincoast Conservation Foundation have published in this month's Journal of Biogeography, that our coastal wolves, "are like no other wolves." Well, we could have told them that, but no one listens until a paper gets published.

Grey wolves (Canis lupus), coastal wolves and our household pets (Canis lupus familiaris) share a common ancestry but at some point our coastal wolves have broken from the pack. With genetic differences that, "are striking and their ecology is very, very different."

So it seems everything old is new again.

CEDAR: LIFEBLOOD TO AN ISLAND

The arrival of cedar, called “Tsuuaay” by the Haida, had profound effects on the material culture of the Haida (Approx 4000 BC). Once they were able to build canoes to fish year round for local halibut, red snapper and ling cod and increased their access to sea mammals, they were granted a bit of freedom. They still enjoyed their relationship to the spawning cycle of the salmon but cedar gave them options. The cedar bent wood box, a genius idea in food conservation and storage, allowed them to store food for the winter. Often carved with exquisite detail, the cedar bent wood box became art, status and lifebood.