An early Chamaecyparis (Cupressaceae) from the Late Cretaceous of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada

1994 ◽  
Vol 72 (12) ◽  
pp. 1787-1796 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. E. McIver
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Key Words ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Upper Cretaceous ◽  
Vancouver Island ◽  
Fossil Remains ◽  
Extant Species

Fossil remains of a Chamaecyparis-like member of the Cupressaceae occur in the Upper Cretaceous Comox Formation of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The cedar bore both flattened, opposite-branching foliage of the Cupressinocladus interruptus type, as well as alternate-branching foliage more similar to that of extant Thuja. Seed cones attached to the foliage are minute, about 3.0 mm in diameter, and consist of four cone scales with abaxial, leaflike umbos. Despite their small size, the structure of the cones and their disposition on axes resembles those of extant species of Chamaecyparis. It is apparent that the Comox cedar is closely related to extant Chamaecyparis and appears to represent an early member of the clade. These data challenge the hypothesis that Chamaecyparis evolved from a Cupressus-like ancestor with large, many-scaled seed cones and terete branches. Key words: Cupressaceae, Chamaecyparis, Late Cretaceous, fossil, seed cones, evolution.

Marine reptiles from the Nanaimo Group (Upper Cretaceous) of Vancouver Island

2002 ◽  
Vol 39 (11) ◽  
pp. 1591-1603 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth L Nicholls ◽  
Dirk Meckert
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Upper Cretaceous ◽  
New Genus ◽  
Pacific Coast ◽  
Vancouver Island ◽  
The Other ◽  
Western Interior Seaway ◽  
Marine Reptiles ◽  
The Pacific

A new fauna of fossil marine reptiles is described from the Late Cretaceous Nanaimo Group of Vancouver Island. The fossils are from the Haslam and Pender formations (upper Santonian) near Courtenay, British Columbia, and include elasmosaurid plesiosaurs, turtles, and mosasaurs. This is only the second fauna of Late Cretaceous marine reptiles known from the Pacific Coast, the other being from the Moreno Formation of California (Maastrichtian). The new Nanaimo Group fossils are some 15 million years older than those from the Moreno Formation. However, like the California fauna, there are no polycotylid plesiosaurs, and one of the mosasaurs is a new genus. This reinforces the provinciality of the Pacific faunas and their isolation from contemporaneous faunas in the Western Interior Seaway.

Angiosperm wood from the Upper Cretaceous (Coniacian) of British Columbia, Canada

IAWA Journal ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan A. Jud ◽  
Elisabeth A. Wheeler ◽  
Gar W. Rothwell ◽  
Ruth A. Stockey
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
North America ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Upper Cretaceous ◽  
Vancouver Island ◽  
Growth Rings ◽  
Thin Sections ◽  
Marine Deposits ◽  
Dry Wood ◽  
Cretaceous Deposits

Fossil angiosperm wood was collected from shallow marine deposits in the Upper Cretaceous (Coniacian) Comox Formation on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The largest specimen is a log at least 2 m long and 38 cm in diameter. Thin sections from a sample of this log reveal diffuseporous wood with indistinct growth rings and anatomy similar toParaphyllanthoxylon. Occasional idioblasts with dark contents in the rays distinguish this wood from previously knownParaphyllanthoxylonspecies and suggest affinity with Lauraceae. The log also includes galleries filled with dry-wood termite coprolites. This trunk reveals the presence of tree-sized angiosperms in what is now British Columbia, and the association of dry-wood termites with angiosperm woods by the Coniacian (89 Ma). To understand the significance of this discovery, we reviewed the record of Cretaceous woods from North America. Our analysis of the distribution of fossil wood occurrences from Cretaceous deposits supports the conclusion that there was a strong latitudinal gradient in both the size and distribution of angiosperm trees during the Late Cretaceous, with no reports of Cretaceous angiosperm trees north of 50°N paleo-latitude in North America. The rarity of angiosperm wood in the Cretaceous has long been used to support the idea that flowering plants were generally of low-stature for much of the Cretaceous; however, large-stature trees withParaphyllanthoxylon-like wood anatomy were widespread at lower–middle paleo-latitudes at least in North America during the Late Cretaceous. Thus, the presence of a largeParaphyllanthoxylonlog in the Comox Formation suggests that Vancouver Island has moved significantly northward since the Coniacian as indicated by other geological and paleobotanical studies.

A new species of Petrolisthes STIMPSON, 1858 (Anomura, Porcellanidae) from the Upper Cretaceous (upper Santonian) of Vancouver Island, Canada

2020 ◽  
Vol 298 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Alessandro Garassino ◽  
Torrey Nyborg ◽  
John Fam ◽  
Dan Bowden ◽  
Raymond Graham ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
New Species ◽  
Upper Cretaceous ◽  
Vancouver Island ◽  
Geographical Range ◽  
Northeastern Pacific ◽  
A New Species

A new porcellanid crab, Petrolisthes landsendi Garassino & Nyborg n. sp., from the Upper Cretaceous (upper Santonian) Nanaimo Group of Vancouver Island (British Columbia, Canada) is herein described. Petrolisthes landsendi Garassino & Nyborg n. sp. represents the oldest species of Petrolisthes Stimpson, 1858 and is the first species from the northeastern Pacific, thus expanding the stratigraphical age and geographical range of the genus.

Paleomagnetism of the Upper Cretaceous Nanaimo Group, southwestern Canadian Cordillera

2001 ◽  
Vol 38 (10) ◽  
pp. 1403-1422 ◽  
Author(s):  
Randolph J Enkin ◽  
Judith Baker ◽  
Peter S Mustard
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
North America ◽  
Upper Cretaceous ◽  
Vertical Axis ◽  
Vancouver Island ◽  
Canadian Cordillera ◽  
Paleontological Data ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Prime Target

The Baja B.C. model has the Insular Superterrane and related entities of the Canadian Cordillera subject to >3000 km of northward displacement with respect to cratonic North America from ~90 to ~50 Ma. The Upper Cretaceous Nanaimo Group (on and about Vancouver Island, British Columbia) is a prime target to test the model paleomagnetically because of its locality and age. We have widely sampled the basin (67 sites from seven islands spread over 150 km, Santonian to Maastrichtian age). Most samples have low unblocking temperatures (<450°C) and coercivities (~10 mT) and strong present-field contamination, forcing us to reject three quarters of the collection. Beds are insufficiently tilted to provide a conclusive fold test, and we see evidence of relative vertical axis rotations. However, inclination-only analysis indicates pretilting remanence is preserved for many samples. Both polarities are observed, and reversals correlate well to paleontological data, proving that primary remanence is observed. The mean inclination, 55 ± 3°, is 13 ± 4° steeper than previously published results. Our new paleolatitude, 35.7 ± 2.6° is identical to that determined from the slightly older Silverquick and Powell Creek formations at Mount Tatlow, yet the inferred displacement is smaller (2300 ± 400 km versus 3000 ± 500 km) because North America was drifting southward starting around 90 Ma. The interpreted paleolatitude conflicts with sedimentologic and paleontologic evidence that the Nanaimo Basin was deposited near its present northern position.

The Lions Gate Member: A New Late Cretaceous Sedimentary Subdivision in the Vancouver Area of British Columbia

1975 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 464-471 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. E. Rouse ◽  
W. H. Mathews ◽  
R. H. Blunden
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Vancouver Island ◽  
Granitic Rocks ◽  
The South ◽  
Plutonic Belt ◽  
South Shore

Sediments bordering Burrard Inlet in Greater Vancouver are described as the Lions Gate Member of the Burrard Formation. This new member, comprising the lowest part of the previously defined Burrard Formation, rests nonconformably upon deeply weathered granitic rocks of the Coast Plutonic belt, and dips southwards into the Whatcom Basin. Four sedimentary units are recognizable, comprising a basal unit of conglomerate with minor sandstone lenticles; a sandstone–siltstone unit; a shale unit; and an upper coarse arkose. The upper contact with overlying sandstone and shales of Tertiary age occurs on the south shore of Burrard Inlet. Palynomorphs from both surface and borehole samples are of Late Cretaceous (Campanian) age, suggesting correlation of the Lions Gate Member with the Extension-Protection Formation of eastern Vancouver Island.

A new dromioid crab from the late Campanian of Hornby Island, Canada

2020 ◽  
Vol 295 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-147
Author(s):  
Torrey Nyborg ◽  
Alessandro Garassino ◽  
Richard L.M. Ross
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
North America ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Vancouver Island ◽  
First Report

We report Sabellidromites lanae n. sp. (Crustacea, Decapoda, Dromiidae) from the Late Cretaceous (late Campanian) of Hornby Island, British Columbia (Canada). Sabellidromites lanae n. sp. is the first report of a dromioid crab from Nanaimo Group of Vancouver Island and the first report for the genus in North America, enlarging its palaeogeographic range.

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