McAbee Fossil Beds
The McAbee Fossil Beds is a Heritage Site that protects an Eocene Epoch fossil locality east of Cache Creek, British Columbia, Canada, just north of and visible from Provincial Highway 97 / the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1) at Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.. The McAbee Fossil Beds, comprising 548.23 hectares (1,354.7 acres), were officially designated a Provincial Heritage Site under British Columbia's Heritage Conservation Act on July 19, 2012.[1][2] The site is part of an old lake bed which was deposited about 52 million years ago and is internationally recognised for the diversity of plant, insect, and fish fossils found there. Similar fossil beds in Eocene lake sediments, also known for their well preserved plant, insect and fish fossils, are found at Driftwood Canyon Provincial Park near Smithers in northern British Columbia, on the Horsefly River near Quesnel in central British Columbia, and at Republic in Washington, USA.[3] The Princeton Chert fossil beds in southern British Columbia are also Eocene, but primarily preserve an aquatic plant community.[4] A recent review of the early Eocene fossil sites from the interior of British Columbia discusses the history of paleobotanical research at McAbee, the Princeton Chert, Driftwood Canyon, and related Eocene fossil sites such as at Republic.[5]
Contents
Palaeontology
Fossil plants from the same area as the McAbee fossil beds (Cache Creek and Kamloops B.C.) were first reported by G.M. Dawson.[6] Palaeontological and geological studies of the McAbee Fossil Beds are more recent, however, going back at least to research in the 1960s and early 1970s by Dr. Len Hills of the University of Calgary and his students on the fossil spores and pollen (palynology) and the leaf fossils,[7][8][9] and research on the fossil fish from the fossil beds by Dr. Mark Wilson of the University of Alberta.[3] Thomas Ewing provided a detailed analysis of the geology of the Kamloops Group, including the McAbee beds.[10] Significant research on the fossil plants and insects has only occurred since the late 1980s.[11][12][13][14][15] The McAbee Fossil Beds are best known for the abundant and well-preserved insect and fish fossils (Amyzon, Eohiodon, and Eosalmo). Eohiodon rosei from the McAbee Fossil Beds and other Eocene sites in British Columbia is now considered to belong to the present-day mooneye genus Hiodon.[16]
The climate of the McAbee Eocene lake was reconstructed to be temperate and wet, with a mean annual temperature about 11 °C (52 °F), winters lacking frost (coldest month mean temperature ~5 °C), and annual precipitation over 1,000 mm (39 in) a year with little or no seasonality of precipitation.[13][14][17][18] The extraordinary detail preserved in the insect fossils, as well as the high diversity of insects, plants and other organisms means the McAbee Fossil Beds represent a Konservat-Lagerstätten.[15]
A volcanic ash exposed in the lake shale beds was originally radiometrically dated using the K-Ar method at ~51 million years ago;[8][10] however, a recently provided radiometric date using the 40Ar-39Ar method places the McAbee Fossil Beds at 52.9 ± 0.83 million years old, placing it in the early Eocene Epoch.[19][20]
Flora
Fossils of plant leaves, shoots, seeds, flowers and cones are abundant and well preserved, and include up to 76 genera of plants.[21] Fossil plants described from the fossil beds include rare flowers such as Dipteronia, a genus of trees related to maples (Acer. spp.) that today grows in eastern Asia,[22] extinct members of the birch family (Betulaceae) such as Palaeocarpinus,[23] maple seeds (Acer rousei),[11] and fruits and leaves of a beech (Fagus langevinii)[24] and an elm (Ulmus okanaganensis).[25]
Below is an incomplete list of the plant genera found in the McAbee fossil beds based on the list found in Dillhoff, Leopold & Manchester (2005) with extinct taxa denoted with a †.[26]
| plant family | genera | common name |
|---|---|---|
| Cupressaceae | Chamaecyparis, Cunninghamia, Metasequoia, Sequoia, Thuja | cypress, Chinese fir, dawn redwood, California redwood, red or white cedar |
| Ginkgoaceae | Ginkgo | ginkgo, maidenhair tree |
| Pinaceae | Abies,[27] Picea, Pinus, Pseudolarix,[28] Tsuga | fir, spruce, pine, golden larch, hemlock |
| Taxaceae | cf. Amentotaxus, cf. Torreya | catkin yew, nutmeg yew or 'torreya' |
| Betulaceae | Alnus, Betula, †Palaeocarpinus[23] | alder, birch, extinct hornbeam |
| Cercidiphyllaceae | †Joffrea / Cercidiphyllum | extinct / katsura (Japan) |
| Cornaceae | Cornus | dogwood |
| Fagaceae | Fagus | beech |
| Grossulariaceae | Ribes | currant or gooseberry |
| Hamamelidaceae | †Langeria magnifica | extinct witch hazel relative |
| Lauraceae | Sassafras | sassafras |
| Malvaceae | †Florissantia | extinct |
| Myricaceae | Comptonia | sweet fern (a woody flowering shrub with fern-like leaves) |
| Platanaceae | †Macginicarpa, †Macginitiea | extinct sycamore, plane tree |
| Rosaceae | Amelanchier, Crataegus, Prunus | serviceberry, hawthorn, cherry |
| Salicaceae | Populus | cottonwood, poplar |
| Sapindaceae | Acer, Aesculus, †Cruciptera,[29] Dipteronia, Koelreuteria | maple, buckeye or horse chestnut, golden rain tree |
| Trochodendraceae | Trochodendron,[30] †Zizyphoides | wheel tree, extinct |
| Ulmaceae | Ulmus | elm |
| Vitaceae | Vitis | grape |
Insects and other arthropods
The fossil insects are particularly diverse and well preserved, and include an extinct bulldog ant Macabeemyrma ovata,[31] a recently described species of green lacewing (Neuroptera, Chrysopidae) (Archaeochrysa profracta), and stick insects (Phasmatodea).[20][32][33] A species of fossil freshwater crayfish (Aenigmastacus crandalli) was described from the McAbee Fossil Beds.[34] The very high diversity of fossil insects in the McAbee fossil beds is comparable to that of modern-day tropical forest areas.[35] Most recently, fossil palm beetles (Bruchidae) were described from the beds, confirming the presence of palms (Arecaceae) in the local environment in the early Eocene.[36]
Below is an incomplete list of the insect Orders, superfamilies and families, and genera found in the McAbee Fossil Beds based on information in Archibald, Bossert, Greenwood, and Farrell (2010),[20] Archibald, Mathewes, and Greenwood (2013), Archibald, Rasnitsyn and Akhmetiev (2005)[37] and other sources cited in the list below, with extinct taxa denoted with a †.
| insect order | family/super family | genera | common name |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ephemeroptera | -- | -- | mayflies |
| Odonata | Aeshnidae | -- | darners (dragonflies) |
| Odonata | Megapodagrionidae | -- | flatwing damselflies |
| Blattodea | Blaberidae | -- | blaberid cockroaches |
| Isoptera | Hodotermitidae | -- | harvester termites |
| Dermaptera | -- | -- | earwigs |
| Orthoptera | Prophalangopsidae | -- | grigs |
| Orthoptera | Tettigoniidae | -- | katydids |
| Hemiptera | Aphididae | -- | aphids |
| Hemiptera | Cicadellidae | -- | leaf hoppers |
| Hemiptera | Cercopoidea | -- | spittlebugs |
| Neuroptera | Chrysopidae | †Protochrysa, †Okanaganochrysa, †Adamsochrysa, †Archaeochrysa | green lacewings |
| Neuroptera | Hemerobiidae | -- | brown lacewings |
| Neuroptera | Osmylidae | -- | osmylid lacewings |
| Coleoptera | Cupedidae | -- | reticulated beetles |
| Coleoptera | cf. Cantharidae | -- | soldier beetles |
| Coleoptera | Cerambycidae | -- | long horned beetles |
| Coleoptera | Chrysomelidae | -- | leaf beetles |
| Coleoptera | Curculionidae | -- | weevils, snout beetles |
| Coleoptera | cf. Elateridae | -- | click beetles |
| Coleoptera | Mordellidae | -- | tumbling flower beetles |
| Mecoptera | Bittacidae | -- | hangingflies |
| Mecoptera | †Cimbrophlebiidae | †Cimbrophlebia | extinct group |
| Mecoptera | Panorpidae | Panorpa | panorpid scorpionflies |
| Mecoptera | †Dinopanorpidae | †Dinokanaga | extinct group |
| Mecoptera | †Holcorpidae | †Holcorpa | extinct group |
| Mecoptera | †Eorpidae | †Eorpa | extinct group |
| Mecoptera | Eomeropidae | †Eomerope | eomeropid Mecoptera |
| Diptera | Bibionidae | Plecia | March flies |
| Diptera | Cylindrotomidae | -- | long-bodied crane flies |
| Diptera | Limoniidae | -- | limoniid crane flies |
| Diptera | Mycetophilidae | -- | fungus gnats |
| Diptera | Tipulidae | -- | crane flies |
| Diptera | Trichoceridae | -- | winter crane flies |
| Diptera | Syrphidae | -- | flower flies, hover flies |
| Trichoptera | -- | -- | caddisflies |
| Hymenoptera | Braconidae | -- | braconid wasps |
| Hymenoptera | Cimbicidae | -- | cimbicid wasps |
| Hymenoptera | Diapriidae | -- | diapriid wasps |
| Hymenoptera | Figitidae | -- | figitid wasps |
| Hymenoptera | Formicidae | †Ypresiomyrma, †Avitomyrmex, †Macabeemyrma, †Myrmeciites | bulldog ants |
| Hymenoptera | Ichneumonidae | -- | ichneumon wasps |
| Hymenoptera | Proctotrupidae | -- | proctotrupid wasps |
| Hymenoptera | Siricidae | -- | horntail wasps |
| Hymenoptera | Sphecidae | -- | Sphecid wasps |
| Hymenoptera | Tenthredinidae | -- | tenthredinid wasps |
| Hymenoptera | Vespidae | -- | hornets |
| Phasmatodea | †Susumanioidea | -- | stick insects |
Collections and collecting status
Small collections of fossils are housed in the Royal BC Museum in Victoria BC, the Royal Ontario Museum, the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa, the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture in Seattle, WA, and other university collections, principally Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, B.C., and Brandon University in Manitoba. Significant collections of fossils from the McAbee Fossil Beds are in private ownership and fossils from the McAbee Fossil Beds are listed for sale on the internet.[21]
The cessation of fossil collecting at the McAbee Fossil Beds through heritage listing is consistent with British Columbia's new Fossil Management Framework[38] which seeks to:
-
- clarify the rules governing the management and use of fossils;
- manage impacts on fossils from other activities;
- provide for the stewardship of significant fossil sites;
- raise internal and external awareness of the framework and the importance of fossils;
- build knowledge of the nature and extent of the resource in BC; and
- clarify the rights and obligations of the public, business, government and other stakeholders.
References
- ↑ McAbee fossil site receives heritage protection.
- ↑ McAbee Fossil Beds Heritage Site. Canadian Register of Historic Places. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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- ↑ Greenwood, D.R.; Pigg, K.B.; Basinger, J.F.; DeVore, M.L. (2016). "A review of paleobotanical studies of the Early Eocene Okanagan (Okanogan) Highlands floras of British Columbia, Canada and Washington, USA". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 53(5). doi: 10.1139/cjes-2015-0177
- ↑ Dawson, G.M. (1877). "Report on explorations in the southern portion of British Columbia." Geological Survey of. Canada, Report of Progress for 1875–76, pp. 233–265.
- ↑ Hills, L.V. 1965. Palynology and age of early Tertiary basins, interior British Columbia; unpubl. Ph.D. thesis, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, 189 p.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Verschoor, K. van R. 1974. Paleobotany of the Tertiary (early Middle Eocene) McAbee Beds, British Columbia. M.Sc. thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, 128 p.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Gushulak, C.A.; West, C.K.; Greenwood, D.R. (2016). "Paleoclimate and precipitation seasonality of the Early Eocene McAbee megaflora, Kamloops Group, British Columbia". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 53(5): 1-14. doi: 10.1139/cjes-2015-0160
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 Archibald, S.B., Bossert, W.H., Greenwood, D.R., and Farrell, B.D. 2010. Seasonality, the latitudinal gradient of diversity, and Eocene insects. Paleobiology, 36 (3): 374 – 398.
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 Wilson, M.V.H. 2009. McAbee Fossil Site Assessment Report. 60 pp.Online PDF. Accessed July 21, 2012.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Archibald, S.B.; Rasnitsyn, A.P.; Akhmetiev, M.A. (2005) "The ecology and distribution of Cenozoic Eomeropidae (Mecoptera), and a new species of Eomerope Cockerell from the Early Eocene McAbee locality, British Columbia, Canada." Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 98: 503-514. DOI: 10.1603/0013-8746(2005)098[0503:EADOCE]2.0.CO;2
- ↑ Fossil Management Framework. http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/topic.page?id=581E56736871492E80229C27F1662222 (accessed May 4, 2015)
