scholarly journals NEW AMBER DEPOSIT PROVIDES EVIDENCE OF EARLY PALEOGENE EXTINCTIONS, PALEOCLIMATES, AND PAST DISTRIBUTIONS

1999 ◽  
Vol 131 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
George Poinar ◽  
Bruce Archibald ◽  
Alex Brown
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
North America ◽  
Chemical Analysis ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Middle Eocene ◽  
Life Forms ◽  
Tropical Regions ◽  
Terrestrial Invertebrates ◽  
The Family ◽  
Early Paleogene

AbstractA large, previously unstudied amber deposit in British Columbia dating from the Early to Middle Eocene (50−55 Ma) provides a noteworthy new source of terrestrial invertebrates and other life forms. This deposit contains what are likely the earliest unequivocal ants (members of the family Formicidae), including extinct representatives of Technomyrmex Mayr 1872, Leptothorax Mayr 1855, and Dolichoderus Lund 1831. Discovering Technomyrmex and a corydiinid cockroach, both of which are currently restricted to tropical regions, confirms earlier evidence of warm paleoclimates and past biogeographic distributions in the early Paleogene. Chemical analysis of the amber indicates that the source tree was an araucarian belonging to or near the genus Agathis Salisbury 1807, and demonstrates that this genus survived into the Tertiary in the Northern Hemisphere, since previous records revealed Agathis as a component only of the Cretaceous forests in North America. Comparing the Hat Creek fossil assemblages in this deposit with those from the well-studied western Canadian Late Cretaceous amber deposits offers a unique opportunity to study extinction and speciation events on both sides of the Cretaceous–Tertiary boundary.

A New Gunnel, Pholis clemensi, from the Coast of Western North America

1964 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 933-939 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard H. Rosenblatt
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
New Species ◽  
North America ◽  
North American ◽  
North American Species ◽  
Western North America ◽  
The North ◽  
The Family ◽  
Juan De Fuca ◽  
A New Species

A new species, Pholis clemensi, referred to the family Pholidae, is named and described from 12 specimens taken in southern British Columbia waters and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Pholis clemensi is compared with other members of the genus, and a key is given to the North American species.

Dipteran Pests: Families Tipulidae and Chloropidae

2020 ◽  
pp. 299-316
Author(s):  
Patricia J. Vittum
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
British Columbia ◽  
North America ◽  
Northeastern United States ◽  
Limited Distribution ◽  
Crane Flies ◽  
The Family ◽  
Athletic Fields ◽  
The Common ◽  
Considerable Damage

This chapter describes two invasive crane fly species which are pests of turfgrass, particularly in the northwestern and northeastern United States, as well as southern British Columbia and the metropolitan Toronto area in Canada. The European crane fly and the common or marsh crane fly, order Diptera, family Tipulidae, subfamily Tipulinae, have elongated maxillary palpi that distinguish members of this subfamily from other subfamilies. Larvae of invasive crane flies are sometimes called leatherjackets, in part because the pupae are leathery in appearance. Invasive crane flies have a relatively limited distribution in North America, but can cause considerable damage on golf courses, lawns, athletic fields, and sod farms, as well as forage fields and hayfields. The chapter also looks at the frit fly, which belongs to the family Chloropidae.

scholarly journals The Dakoticancridae (Decapoda, Brachyura) from the Late Cretaceous of North America and Mexico

1998 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
pp. 237-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
G.A. Bishop ◽  
R.M. Feldmann ◽  
F. Vega
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Functional Morphology ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Cladistic Analysis ◽  
Low Level ◽  
The Family

The podotrematous crab family Dakoticancridae includes four genera: Dakoticancer Rathbun, Tetracarcinus Weller, Avitelmessus Rathbun, and Seorsus Bishop, all known solely from the Late Cretaceous of North America. Lathelicocarcinus Bishop, originally referred to the family, must be reassigned. Fine details of anatomy, preserved on specimens of D. overanus Rathbun and A. grapsoideus Rathbun, permit description of genital openings and interpretation of functional morphology of appendages. Although one species, D. australis Rathbun, has been found associated with burrow structures, all were probably vagrant epifaunal animals on fine- to medium-grained siliciclastic substrata. Food was probably obtained by generalized low-level predation and scavenging. Results of a cladistic analysis are consistent with the stratigraphic data suggesting that T. subquadrata Weller is nearest the rootstock of the family and that other taxa within the family are derived from it.

Taxonomy, phylogeny, and paleoecology of Eoseira wilsonii gen. et sp. nov., a Middle Eocene diatom (Bacillariophyceae: Aulacoseiraceae) from lake sediments at Horsefly, British Columbia, Canada

2005 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander P Wolfe ◽  
Mark B Edlund
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Middle Eocene ◽  
Life Strategy ◽  
Centric Diatom ◽  
Evolutionary Trajectory ◽  
The Family ◽  
Freshwater Diatoms ◽  
Marine Realm ◽  
Diatom Genus ◽  
Early Cenozoic

A new centric diatom genus is described from laminated freshwater sediments of Middle Eocene age near Horsefly, British Columbia, Canada. This diatom, Eoseira wilsonii gen. et sp. nov., grew in filaments that constitute dense monospecific sub-horizons within the white couplets that represent summer deposition in the varved sequence. Although Eoseira clearly belongs within the Family Aulacoseiraceae, several features distinguish its valve structure from Aulacoseira. Gigantism of spines and the lack of geometric relationships between spine position and mantle areolae are the most conspicuous features of the genus. Eoseira is among the oldest freshwater diatoms known and one of relatively few extinct freshwater genera. In addition to serving as a potential biostratigraphic marker, Eoseira is a cornerstone to undertanding the evolutionary trajectory of the Aulacoseiraceae, likely the oldest family of freshwater diatoms. As such, it refines our understanding of early radiations from the marine realm in western North America. Furthermore, paleoecological inferences based on Eoseira life strategy pertain directly to limnological conditions during early Cenozoic hot-house conditions.

?Tethyaster albertensis, a Late Cretaceous (Turonian) sea star from the Cardium Formation, Alberta, Canada

1990 ◽  
Vol 64 (6) ◽  
pp. 1045-1049 ◽  
Author(s):  
Russell L. Hall ◽  
Suzan Moore
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Sea Star ◽  
Sea Stars ◽  
Peace River ◽  
The North ◽  
The Family ◽  
Cardium Formation ◽  
Northern Alberta ◽  
Limited Change

Although many of the surviving lineages of sea stars appeared during an early Mesozoic radiation of the class and have undergone limited change since then, they have left a very poor fossil record, particularly in the Mesozoic of North America (Blake, 1981). This record from the Late Cretaceous of Alberta is made more significant by the fact that it is apparently only the second occurrence of a member of the family Astropectinidae in the Cretaceous of North America; Lophidiaster silentiensis was described by McLearn (1944) from the Lower Cretaceous (Albian) Hasler Formation, from a now-submerged locality on the Peace River in northern Alberta. All previously recorded fossil sea stars from the North American Cretaceous are representatives of the family Goniasteridae.

scholarly journals Fossil crocodilian distributions, Upper Cretaceous to present: implications for paleoclimate

1992 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 198-198
Author(s):  
Paul Markwick
Keyword(s):  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Middle Eocene ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Tropical Regions ◽  
Cooling Trend ◽  
Geologic Record ◽  
Continental Interior ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
Limited Scope

The present day distribution of crocodilians appears to be climatically controlled, at least in part, with the group restricted to tropical through sub-tropical regions. Studies have shown that although crocodiles may be able to withstand sub-zero temperatures they can do so for only limited periods. By analogy the presence of fossil crocodilians in the geologic record has been interpretated as indicating warmth. However previous studies have generally been of limited scope. This study uses global paleodistributions of the crocodilians to map gross global climate for the last 100 million years.A comprehensive database of published occurrences of fossil crocodilians from the late Cretaceous to the Present has been constructed. Taphonomic and collection biases have been addressed using ‘control groups', these are respectively the Testudines and the vertebrates in general. Problems of taxonomic inconsistency have been dealt with by ‘accepting’ a standard published taxonomic scheme (Carroll, 1988). Geographic and temporal uncertainties and imprecisions are coded on the database to facilitate sorting; this allows the analyses to be run at different levels of precision and provides an opportunity to understand the way biogeographic and hence paleoclimatic interpretations may be influenced by both the nature of the geologic record itself and by a priori decisions made by the worker. The database also includes lithologic, stratigraphic and environmental information on some 3300 localities and includes specimen information for the taxa entered (>14000 separate entries assembled from 1000 references).Preliminary analyses of paleolatitudinally reconstructed localities reveals the following trends: an overall equatorward movement of the poleward limit of the crocodiles from the late Cretaceous to the present; this is punctuated by an abrupt equatorward excursion of almost 10° during the Oligocene and another of similar magnitude at the end of the Miocene, with an apparent Miocene ‘recovery’ in between (this trend is shown most clearly by the families Alligatoridae and Crocodylidae). At the suborder level the Mesosuchians (excluding the Sebecidae) show a distinct equatorial shift from the Campanian through to the middle Eocene when they disappear; inclusion of the Sebecidae in the Mesosuchia gives rise to a sudden poleward expansion in the middle Eocene of some 20° paleolatitude. Map reconstructions, especially for North America, reveal an eastward shift of crocodilian localities as the Tertiary progresses, perhaps due in part to a taphonomic artifact, viz., the migration of the locus of sedimentation. With the late Miocene the crocodilians disappeared completely from the continental interior record, a transition which seems tied to increased aridity (as indicated by the development of caliches in many areas) and increased seasonality of temperature. This pattern is also seen in the southern ‘U.S.S.R’.The distributions of the Crocodylia through time therefore reflect and support established views concerning late Cretaceous through Tertiary climate with a general cooling trend from the late Cretaceous to the present punctuated by abrupt coolings in the Oligocene and around the Miocene-Pliocene boundary.

Identification of planktonic Mallomonadaceae and other Chrysophyceae from selected lakes in the lower Fraser Valley, British Columbia (Canada)

1984 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 525-539 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah A. Donaldson ◽  
Janet R. Stein
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
North America ◽  
New Records ◽  
The Family ◽  
Lower Fraser Valley ◽  
Fraser Valley

Identification of the Mallomonadaceae of selected lakes in British Columbia reveals 20 species of the genera Chromophysomonas, Chrysosphaerella, Mallomonas, Mallomonopsis, Paraphysomonas, and Synura. The following eight taxa in the family are new records for British Columbia (* indicates those new to North America): Mallomonas asmundiae, M. doignonii var. tenuicostis, M. papillosa, M. transsylvanica, Mallomonopsis ouradion*, Paraphysomonas vestita, Synura glabra, S. splendida*. Thirteen additional Chrysophyceae were also present, with the most diversity observed being in the three lakes studied extensively (Whonock, Como, Munday).

Fagus (Fagaceae) fruits, foliage, and pollen from the Middle Eocene of Pacific Northwestern North America

2004 ◽  
Vol 82 (10) ◽  
pp. 1509-1517 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven R Manchester ◽  
Richard M Dillhoff
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
North America ◽  
Middle Eocene ◽  
Molecular Evidence ◽  
Secondary Vein ◽  
Early Oligocene ◽  
Fossil Evidence ◽  
Ca 50 ◽  
Northwestern North America

Fruits and leaves from the Middle Eocene of McAbee, British Columbia, and Republic, Washington, provide an earlier record for the genus Fagus than previously accepted for this member of the Fagaceae. The fruits are trigonal nuts borne within spiny four-valved cupules on long peduncles. The leaves are borne alternately on the twigs and are ovate to elliptic with craspedodromous secondary veins and simple teeth distributed one per secondary vein. The shale preserving these megafossils also contains dispersed pollen with morphology and ornamentation diagnostic of Fagus. Previously, the oldest Fagus occurrences confirmed by fruits were early Oligocene (ca. 32 Ma). The recognition of Middle Eocene (ca. 50 Ma) representatives helps to reduce the disparity between molecular evidence favoring Fagus as a primitive genus within Fagaceae, and fossil evidence, which had indicated older occurrences of Castanea and Quercus than Fagus.Key words: Eocene, Fagus, fossil, foliage, fruits, British Columbia.

Co-ossified vertebrae of mosasaurs and cetaceans: implications for the mode of locomotion of extinct marine reptiles

Paleobiology ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 724-734 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric W. A. Mulder
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Disease ◽  
North America ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Vertebral Column ◽  
Life Forms ◽  
Marine Reptiles ◽  
Caudal Vertebrae ◽  
Idiopathic Disease ◽  
Infectious Spondylitis

Co-ossified pygal and caudal vertebrae in Late Cretaceous mosasaurs from the southeast Netherlands, northeast Belgium, and North America are compared with lumbar and caudal vertebrae from fossil and extant whales. Both infectious spondylitis and idiopathic vertebral hyperostosis afflicted these marine tetrapods. The causes of the infectious disease and of the idiopathic disease are similar in the compared life forms. The location of idiopathic hyperostosis along the vertebral column implicates axial locomotion in mosasaurs, as in whales.

Early Eocene snakeflies (Raphidioptera) of western North America from the Okanagan Highlands and Green River Formation

Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4951 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-79
Author(s):  
S. BRUCE ARCHIBALD ◽  
VLADIMIR N. MAKARKIN
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
British Columbia ◽  
North America ◽  
United States Of America ◽  
Green River Formation ◽  
Early Eocene ◽  
Western North America ◽  
Green River ◽  
The Family ◽  
Okanagan Highlands

Four new species of Raphidiidae are described from the early Eocene of western North America: Megaraphidia antiquissima sp. nov. from McAbee, M. ootsa sp. nov. from Driftwood Canyon, M. hopkinsi sp. nov. from the Allenby Formation (all from British Columbia, Canada), M. klondika sp. nov. from Republic (Washington, United States of America). Archiinocellia Handlirsch, 1910, Archiinocellia oligoneura Handlirsch, 1910 from Horsefly River (British Columbia, Canada), and A. protomaculata (Engel, 2011), comb. nov., from the Green River Formation (Colorado, United States of America) are redescribed. Archiinocellia is assigned to Raphidiidae, sit. nov. The apparent absence of sclerotized gonocoxites 9 in the Archiinocellia protomaculata male is probably plesiomorphic at the family level. As some modern snakeflies do not require a cold interval to complete their development and Eocene Inocelliidae and Raphidiidae lived in regions of warm winters (especially A. protomaculata), adaptation to cold winters in many modern snakeflies is a post-Eocene phenomenon. Eocene Raphidiidae of Europe (Priabonian) differ greatly from those of North America (Ypresian and Priabonian). This pattern might reflect dispersal in either direction or ranges established prior to continental separation. Eocene Inocelliidae of Europe (Priabonian), however, are more similar to those of North America (Ypresian and Lutetian). 

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