McAbee Fossil Beds
50°47.831′N 121°8.469′W / 50.797183°N 121.141150°W
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/McAbee_Fossil_Beds%2C_British_Columbia.jpg/220px-McAbee_Fossil_Beds%2C_British_Columbia.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ce/Heritage_sign_at_McAbee_Fossil_Beds.jpg/170px-Heritage_sign_at_McAbee_Fossil_Beds.jpg)
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). 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, United States.[3] The Princeton Chert fossil beds in southern British Columbia are also Eocene, but primarily preserve an aquatic plant community.[4] A 2016 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]
The McAbee site is now under the management of the Bonaparte First Nation, who have title on the lands.[6] The site is currently closed to the public while interpretive components are installed.[7]
Palaeontology and geology
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/41/McAbee_fossil_beds_undescribed_bird.jpg/220px-McAbee_fossil_beds_undescribed_bird.jpg)
Fossil plants from the same area as the McAbee fossil beds (Cache Creek and Kamloops B.C.) were first reported by G.M. Dawson.[8] Palaeontological and geological studies of the McAbee Fossil Beds first commenced in the 1960s and early 1970s by Len Hills of the University of Calgary and his students on the fossil palynology (spores and pollen) and leaf fossils,[9][10][11] and research on the fossil fish from the fossil beds by 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.[12] More recently, Lowe et al. have assessed in detail the site lithostratigraphy.[13] Significant research on the fossil plants and insects has only occurred since the late 1980s.[14][15][16][17][18] 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.[19]
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.[16][17][20][21] 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.[18]
A volcanic ash exposed in the lake shale beds was originally radiometrically dated using the K-Ar method at ~51 million years ago;[10][12] however, a 2005 paper provided a radiometric date using the 40Ar-39Ar method places the McAbee Fossil Beds at 52.9 ± 0.83 million years ago, with both dates placing the McAbee fossil beds in the early Eocene Epoch.[22][23]
Flora
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f2/Sassafras_hesperia_RTMP_McAbee_site1.jpg/170px-Sassafras_hesperia_RTMP_McAbee_site1.jpg)
Fossils of plant leaves, shoots, seeds, flowers and cones are abundant and well preserved, and include up to 76 genera of plants.[24] Fossil plants described from the fossil beds include rare fruits such as Dipteronia brownii, a genus of trees now endemic to China,[25] extinct members of the birch family (Betulaceae) such as Palaeocarpinus,[26] maples (Acer rousei),[14] fruits and leaves of the beech Fagus langevinii[27] and the elm Ulmus okanaganensis.[28]
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) and Wilson (2009) with extinct taxa denoted with a †.[29]
plant family | genus or species | notes |
---|---|---|
Scouring rushes | ||
cypress, Chinese fir, dawn redwood, California redwood, red or white cedar | ||
ginkgo, maidenhair tree | ||
fir, spruce, pine, golden larch, hemlock | ||
cf. Amentotaxus, cf. Torreya |
catkin yew, nutmeg yew or 'torreya' | |
alder, birch, extinct hornbeam | ||
extinct / katsura | ||
dogwood | ||
beech | ||
currant/gooseberry | ||
extinct witch hazel relative | ||
sassafras | ||
extinct mallow relative | ||
extinct sycamore/plane tree relative | ||
serviceberry, hawthorn, cherry | ||
cottonwoods/poplars | ||
Acer, Aesculus, †Cruciptera,[32] Dipteronia, Koelreuteria |
maples, buckeyes/horse chestnuts, golden rain trees | |
†Paraconcavistylon wehrii,[33][34] †Trochodendron drachukii,[35] Trochodendron nastae,[33] †Zizyphoides |
wheel tree, extinct trochodendron relatives | |
elm | ||
grape | ||
Flower of uncertain affliliation |
Insects and other arthropods
[edit]The fossil insects are particularly diverse and well preserved, and include an extinct bulldog ant Macabeemyrma ovata,[36] a species of green lacewing (Neuroptera, Chrysopidae) (Archaeochrysa profracta), and stick insects (Phasmatodea).[23][37][38] A species of fossil freshwater crayfish (Aenigmastacus crandalli) was described from the McAbee Fossil Beds.[39] The very high diversity of fossil insects in the McAbee fossil beds is comparable to that of modern-day tropical forest areas.[40] Additionally, fossil palm beetles (Bruchinae) were detailed from the beds, confirming the presence of palms (Arecaceae) in the local environment in the early Eocene.[41]
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),[23] Archibald, Mathewes, and Greenwood (2013), Archibald, Rasnitsyn and Akhmetiev (2005)[42] and other sources cited in the list below, with extinct taxa denoted with a †.
Arthropod order | Super family/family | Genus/Species | Authors | Notes | Images |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Darners (dragonflies) |
|||||
Odonata |
Flatwing damselflies |
||||
blaberid cockroaches |
|||||
Grigs |
|||||
Orthoptera |
|||||
Hemiptera |
|||||
Hemiptera |
|||||
Green lacewings |
|||||
Green lacewings |
|||||
Green lacewings |
|||||
Neuroptera |
|||||
Neuroptera |
|||||
Coleoptera |
cf. Cantharidae |
||||
Coleoptera |
|||||
Coleoptera |
|||||
Coleoptera |
weevils, snout beetles |
||||
Coleoptera |
cf. Elateridae |
||||
Coleoptera |
tumbling flower beetles |
||||
Mecoptera |
†Cimbrophlebiidae |
†Cimbrophlebia |
extinct group |
||
Mecoptera |
panorpid scorpionflies |
||||
Mecoptera |
extinct family |
||||
Mecoptera |
extinct family |
||||
Mecoptera |
extinct family |
||||
Mecoptera |
eomeropid mecopterans |
||||
Diptera |
long-bodied crane flies |
||||
Diptera |
limoniid crane flies |
||||
Diptera |
fungus gnats |
||||
Diptera |
|||||
Diptera |
winter crane flies |
||||
Diptera |
flower flies, hover flies |
||||
braconid wasps |
|||||
Hymenoptera |
Archibald & Rasnitsyn, 2015 |
Sawfly |
|||
Hymenoptera |
cimbicid wasps |
||||
Hymenoptera |
diapriid wasps |
||||
Hymenoptera |
figitid wasps |
||||
Hymenoptera |
Archibald, Cover, & Moreau, 2006 |
||||
Hymenoptera |
Archibald, Cover, & Moreau, 2006 |
||||
Hymenoptera |
Archibald, Cover, & Moreau, 2006 |
||||
Hymenoptera |
Formicidae |
Archibald, Cover, & Moreau, 2006 |
bulldog ants |
||
Hymenoptera |
Formicidae |
Archibald, Cover, & Moreau, 2006 |
bulldog ants |
||
Hymenoptera |
Formicidae |
Archibald, Cover, & Moreau, 2006 |
bulldog ants |
||
Hymenoptera |
Formicidae |
Archibald, Cover, & Moreau, 2006 |
bulldog ant form taxon |
||
Hymenoptera |
Formicidae |
Archibald, Cover, & Moreau, 2006 |
bulldog ant form taxon |
||
Hymenoptera |
|||||
Hymenoptera |
proctotrupid wasps |
||||
Hymenoptera |
Archibald & Rasnitsyn, 2015 |
horntail wasps |
|||
Hymenoptera |
Sphecid wasps |
||||
Hymenoptera |
tenthredinid wasps |
||||
Hymenoptera |
|||||
Collections and collecting status
[edit]Collections of fossils are housed in the Royal BC Museum in Victoria, B.C.; the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology in Drumheller Alberta; the Royal Ontario Museum; the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa; the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture in Seattle, WA; as well as in university collections, principally Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, B.C.; and Brandon University in Manitoba. Significant collections of fossils from the McAbee Fossil Beds were in private ownership and fossils from the McAbee Fossil Beds are listed for sale on the internet.[24] In August 2018 a substantial private collection of fossils from McAbee was donated to the Royal British Columbia Museum.[45]
The cessation of fossil collecting at the McAbee Fossil Beds through heritage listing is consistent with British Columbia's Fossil Management Framework[46] 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 British Columbia; and
- clarify the rights and obligations of the public, business, government and other stakeholders.
References
[edit]- ^ "McAbee fossil site receives heritage protection". Archived from the original on 2013-03-12. Retrieved 2012-07-21.
- ^ McAbee Fossil Beds Heritage Site. Canadian Register of Historic Places. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
- ^ a b Wilson, M.V.H. (1977). "Middle Eocene freshwater fishes from British Columbia". Life Sciences Contributions, Royal Ontario Museum. 113: 1–66.
- ^ Cevallos-Ferriz, SRS; Stockey, RA; Pigg, KB (1991). "Princeton chert: evidence for in situ aquatic plants". Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology. 70 (1–2): 173–185. doi:10.1016/0034-6667(91)90085-H.
- ^ 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 (6): 548–564. Bibcode:2016CaJES..53..548G. doi:10.1139/cjes-2015-0177. hdl:1807/71961.
- ^ Wilson, Deborah (June 21, 2019). "Fossil bed reopens under new Indigenous management in B.C.'s southern Interior". CBC News.
- ^ "McAbee Fossil Beds Heritage Site". Province of British Columbia.
- ^ Dawson, G. M. (1877). "Report on explorations in the southern portion of British Columbia". Geological Survey of Canada, Report of Progress for. Vol. 1875–1876. Montreal, Quebec: Dawson Brothers. pp. 233–265.
- ^ Hills, L.V. (1965). Palynology and age of early Tertiary basins, interior British Columbia (Ph.D.). Edmonton, Alberta: University of Alberta. p. 189.
- ^ a b Hills, L.V.; Baadsgaard, H. (1967). "Potassium-argon dating of some Lower Tertiary strata in British Columbia". Canadian Petroleum Geologists Bulletin. 15: 138–149.
- ^ Verschoor, K. van R. (1974). Paleobotany of the Tertiary (early Middle Eocene) McAbee Beds, British Columbia (M.Sc). Calgary, Alberta: University of Calgary. p. 128.
- ^ a b Ewing, T.E. (1981). "Regional stratigraphy and structural setting of the Kamloops Group, south-central British Columbia". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 18 (9): 1464–1477. Bibcode:1981CaJES..18.1464E. doi:10.1139/e81-137.
- ^ Lowe, A. J.; Greenwood, D. R.; West, C. K.; Galloway, J. M.; Sudermann, M.; Reichgelt, T. (2018). "Plant community ecology and climate on an upland volcanic landscape during the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum: McAbee Fossil Beds, British Columbia, Canada". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 511: 433–448. Bibcode:2018PPP...511..433L. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2018.09.010. S2CID 134962126.
- ^ a b Wolfe, J.A.; Tanai, T. (1987). "Systematics, Phylogeny, and Distribution of Acer (maples) in the Cenozoic of Western North America". Journal of the Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University. Series 4, Geology and Mineralogy. 22 (1): 1–246.
- ^ Douglas, S.D.; Stockey, R.A. (1996). "Insect fossils in Middle Eocene deposits from British Columbia and Washington State: faunal diversity and geological range extensions". Canadian Journal of Zoology. 74 (6): 1140–1157. doi:10.1139/z96-126.
- ^ a b Greenwood, D.R.; Wing, S.L. (1995). "Eocene continental climates and latitudinal temperature gradients". Geology. 23 (11): 1044–1048. Bibcode:1995Geo....23.1044G. doi:10.1130/0091-7613(1995)023<1044:eccalt>2.3.co;2.
- ^ a b Greenwood, D.R.; Archibald, S.B.; Mathewes, R.W.; Moss, P.T. (2005). "Fossil biotas from the Okanagan Highlands, southern British Columbia and northeastern Washington State: climates and ecosystems across an Eocene landscape". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 42 (2): 167–185. Bibcode:2005CaJES..42..167G. doi:10.1139/E04-100.
- ^ a b Archibald, S.B.; Greenwood, D.R.; Smith, R.Y.; Mathewes, R.W.; Basinger, J.F. (2012). "Great Canadian Lagerstätten 1. Early Eocene Lagerstätten of the Okanagan Highlands (British Columbia and Washington State)". Geoscience Canada. 38 (4): 155–164.
- ^ Hilton, E.J.; Grande, L. (2008). "Fossil Mooneyes (Teleostei: Hiodontiformes, Hiodontidae) from the Eocene of western North America, with a reassessment of their taxonomy" in "Birth of the modern world: the Tertiary". Geological Society, London, Special Publications. 295: 221–251. doi:10.1144/SP295.13. S2CID 128680041.
- ^ Dillhoff, R.M.; Dillhoff, T.A.; Greenwood, D.R.; DeVore, M.L.; Pigg, K.B. (2013). "The Eocene Thomas Ranch flora, Allenby Formation, Princeton, British Columbia, Canada". Botany. 91 (8): 514–529. doi:10.1139/cjb-2012-0313.
- ^ 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 (6): 591–604. Bibcode:2016CaJES..53..591G. doi:10.1139/cjes-2015-0160. hdl:1807/71959.
- ^ Moss, PT; Greenwood, DR; Archibald, SB (2005). "Regional and local vegetation community dynamics of the Eocene Okanagan Highlands (British Columbia - Washington State) from palynology". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 42 (2): 187–204. Bibcode:2005CaJES..42..187M. doi:10.1139/E04-095.
- ^ a b c Archibald, S.B.; Bossert, W.H.; Greenwood, D.R.; Farrell, B.D. (2010). "Seasonality, the latitudinal gradient of diversity, and Eocene insects". Paleobiology. 36 (3): 374–398. doi:10.1666/09021.1. JSTOR 40792296.
- ^ a b Wilson, M.V.H. (October 24, 2008). McAbee Fossil Site Assessment (PDF) (Report). Government of British Columbia. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
- ^ McClain, A.M.; Manchester, S.R. (2001). "Dipteronia (Sapindaceae) from the Tertiary of North America and implications for the phytogeographic history of the Aceroideae". American Journal of Botany. 88 (7): 1316–1325. doi:10.2307/3558343. JSTOR 3558343. PMID 11454632.
- ^ a b Pigg, K.B.; Manchester, S.R.; Wehr, W.C. (2003). "Corylus, Carpinus, and Palaeocarpinus (Betulaceae) from the Middle Eocene Klondike Mountain and Allenby Formations of Northwestern North America". International Journal of Plant Sciences. 164 (5): 807–822. doi:10.1086/376816. S2CID 19802370.
- ^ Manchester, S.R.; Dillhoff, R.M. (2004). "Fagus (Fagaceae) fruits, foliage, and pollen from the Middle Eocene of Pacific Northwestern North America". Canadian Journal of Botany. 82 (10): 1509–1517. doi:10.1139/b04-112.
- ^ Denk, T.; Dillhoff, R.M. (2005). "Ulmus leaves and fruits from the Early-Middle Eocene of northwestern North America: systematics and implications for character evolution within Ulmaceae". Canadian Journal of Botany. 83 (12): 1663–1681. doi:10.1139/b05-122.
- ^ Dillhoff, R.M.; Leopold, E.B.; Manchester, S.R. (2005). "The McAbee flora of British Columbia and its relations to the Early-Middle Eocene Okanagan Highlands flora of the Pacific Northwest" (PDF). Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 42 (2): 151–166. Bibcode:2005CaJES..42..151D. doi:10.1139/e04-084.
- ^ Schorn, H.; Wehr, W.C. (1986). "Abies milleri, sp. nov., from the Middle Eocene Klondike Mountain Formation, Republic, Ferry County, Washington". Burke Museum Contributions in Anthropology and Natural History (1): 1–7.
- ^ LePage, B.A.; Basinger, J.F. (1995). "Evolutionary history of the genus Pseudolarix Gordon (Pinaceae)". International Journal of Plant Sciences. 156 (6): 910–950. doi:10.1086/297313. S2CID 84724593.
- ^ Manchester, S.R. (1991). "Cruciptera, a new juglandaceous winged fruit from the Eocene and Oligocene of Western North America". Systematic Botany. 16 (4): 715–725. doi:10.2307/2418873. JSTOR 2418873.
- ^ a b Manchester, S.; Pigg, K. B.; Kvaček, Z; DeVore, M. L.; Dillhoff, R. M. (2018). "Newly recognized diversity in Trochodendraceae from the Eocene of western North America". International Journal of Plant Sciences. 179 (8): 663–676. doi:10.1086/699282. S2CID 92201595.
- ^ Manchester, S. R.; Kvaček, Z.; Judd, W. S. (2020). "Morphology, anatomy, phylogenetics and distribution of fossil and extant Trochodendraceae in the Northern Hemisphere". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 195 (3): 467–484. doi:10.1093/botlinnean/boaa046.
- ^ Pigg, K.B.; Dillhoff, R.M.; DeVore, M.L.; Wehr, W.C. (2007). "New diversity among the Trochodendraceae from the Early/Middle Eocene Okanogan Highlands of British Columbia, Canada, and Northeastern Washington State, United States". International Journal of Plant Sciences. 168 (4): 521–532. doi:10.1086/512104. S2CID 86524324.
- ^ Archibald, S.B.; Cover, S. P.; Moreau, C. S. (2006). "Bulldog Ants of the Eocene Okanagan Highlands and History of the Subfamily (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmeciinae)". Annals of the Entomological Society of America. 99 (3): 487–523. doi:10.1603/0013-8746(2006)99[487:BAOTEO]2.0.CO;2.
- ^ Makarkin, V.N.; Archibald, S.B. (2013). "A diverse new assemblage of green lacewings (Insecta, Neuroptera, Chrysopidae) from the early Eocene Okanagan Highlands, western North America". Journal of Paleontology. 87: 123–146. doi:10.1666/12-052R.1. S2CID 130797848.
- ^ Archibald, SB; Bradler, S (2015). "Stem-group stick insects (Phasmatodea) in the early Eocene at McAbee, British Columbia, Canada, and Republic, Washington, United States of America". The Canadian Entomologist. 147 (6): 744–753. doi:10.4039/tce.2015.2. S2CID 86608533.
- ^ Feldmann, R.A.; Schweitzer, C.E.; Leahy, J. (2011). "New Eocene crayfish from the McAbee Beds in British Columbia: First record of Parastacoidea in the Northern Hemisphere". Journal of Crustacean Biology. 31 (2): 320–331. doi:10.1651/10-3399.1.
- ^ Archibald, S.B.; Greenwood, D.R.; Mathewes, R.W. (2013). "Seasonality, montane beta diversity, and Eocene insects: Testing Janzen's dispersal hypothesis in an equable world". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 371: 1–8. Bibcode:2013PPP...371....1A. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2012.10.043.
- ^ Archibald, S.B.; Morse, G.; Greenwood, D.R.; Mathewes, R.W. (2014). "Fossil palm beetles refine upland winter temperatures in the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 111 (22): 8095–8100. Bibcode:2014PNAS..111.8095A. doi:10.1073/pnas.1323269111. PMC 4050627. PMID 24821798.
- ^ 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 (4): 503–514. doi:10.1603/0013-8746(2005)098[0503:EADOCE]2.0.CO;2.
- ^ a b Archibald, S.B.; Rasnitsyn, A.P. (2015). "New early Eocene Siricomorpha (Hymenoptera: Symphyta: Pamphiliidae, Siricidae, Cephidae) from the Okanagan Highlands, western North America". The Canadian Entomologist. 148 (2): 209–228. doi:10.4039/tce.2015.55. S2CID 85743832.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Archibald, S.B.; Cover, S. P.; Moreau, C. S. (2006). "Bulldog Ants of the Eocene Okanagan Highlands and History of the Subfamily (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmeciinae)" (PDF). Annals of the Entomological Society of America. 99 (3): 487–523. doi:10.1603/0013-8746(2006)99[487:BAOTEO]2.0.CO;2.
- ^ Royal British Columbia Museum
- ^ Fossil Management Framework (accessed May 4, 2015)
- Cenozoic paleontological sites of North America
- Natural history of British Columbia
- Fossil parks in Canada
- Eocene plants
- Lagerstätten
- Paleontology in Canada
- Thompson Country
- Thompson-Nicola Regional District
- 2012 in paleontology
- Heritage sites in British Columbia
- Eocene paleontological sites
- Paleontology in British Columbia