The Fernie Ichthyosaur has been formally named: please see this article on the ResearchGate website.
For a quick read on context, this brief Wikipedia entry provides an overview.
The monthly VicPS meetings are on summer hiatus and the focus is on fieldtrips, public education, and the Symposium.
June 15 – Field Trip, TBD (Lead: Corbin Rolfe)
Join Corbin Rolfe as he leads his first official VicPS fieldtrip! Please look for an email from Corbin with details of the trip, closer to the date.
June 22 – PUBLIC EDUCATION: Cowichan Valley Nature Kids (lead: Jerri Wilkins)
VicPS has been invited back for a second year to provide a ‘fossil field day’ for kids in the Cowichan Valley. Last year our volunteers had a blast introducing kids to the ancient marine life on Mt. Tzouhalem in Duncan. If you like participating in public education, Jerri will reach out closer to the date seeking volunteers. No experience necessary – we all learn by doing!
July 20 – Field Trip (lead: Jerri Wilkins)
We’ll visit one of the most beautiful and productive sites on our annual field trip schedule, and one Jerri looks forward to visiting every year. It’s a moderate walk and a good site for families, and for swimming (sometimes on purpose). Look for the invite closer to the date.
July 24 – PUBLIC EDUCATION: Island View and You (lead: Carol Barbon)
This is our annual opportunity to join the Capital Regional District and nature-based organizations for a day of public education focused on the past and present animals and ecosystems of Island View Beach (Cowichan Head) on the Saanich Peninsula. Closer to the date Carol will be looking for volunteers to hang out at Island View Beach for the day….tough job! If you attended the May 18th fieldtrip, this is your opportunity to test your memory by sharing knowledge with others. Jerri know who you are… we will be in touch!
August 10 – Field Trip (lead: Jerri Wilkins)
This site on the shore is easily accessible, and for those with patience and a good eye, it can reveal well-preserved gastropods and occasionally an ammonite. Details will be provided in a fieldtrip guide closer to the date.
August 21 – PUBLIC EDUCATION: Slithery, Slimy & Scaly (lead: Carol Barbon)
For this event, we join the Capital Regional District and nature-based organizations at Elk/Beaver Lake to talk about all things slithery, slimy and scaly. VicPS brings a new perspective to this annual event, exploring with kids why we don’t see snakes and frogs and lizards in the local fossil record. Or do we? Volunteer to help Carol, and you’ll learn the answers. She will reach out for volunteers closer to the date.
August 21-24 – BCPA-VIPS Paleontological Symposium 2025
This bi-annual meeting of paleontological researchers is four days of all things paleo as it relates to Vancouver Island and BC. Presentations on the latest scientific research, scientific posters, workshops and fieldtrips and lots of like-minded professionals and enthusiasts to meet. Check out the details below, and sign up today:
15th BC Paleontological Symposium 2025 v2 – Vancouver Island Paleontological Society
Mike was instrumental in advancing paleontology in BC having discovered the recently named elasmosaur with his daughter, Heather, in 1988. This transformational find precipitated the creation of the British Columbia Paleontological Alliance. Traskasaura sandrae now stands as our official provincial fossil emblem.
Jan 7, 1956 – May 15, 2025
A Celebration of Life will be held at the Courtenay and District Museum & Palaeontology Centre on June 1st at 1:30 pm.
Everyone is welcome.
Congratulations to VicPS member Marji Johns and her colleagues!
This month they published a research paper on the rare egg capsule discovered at Botanical Beach in 2022 by a citizen scientist. Paid members may read about the backstory on discovery of this specimen in the BCPA online journal at First Record of a late Eocene–early Oligocene chimaeroid fish egg – BC Paleontological Alliance.
In this just-published paper, Marji et al have identified the egg capsule to be from a long-nosed chimaeroid fish similar to today’s living ‘spookfish’, not a ratfish as surmised when it was collected. It’s a good reminder not to jump to conclusions about the identity of specimens we find, and to rely on experts to make the identification (ID is commonly a lengthy and detailed research process)!
This research also highlights the value of citizen scientists. In this case, the citizen scientist was visiting from the USA, saw an exceptional specimen in a BC park, took photos, and reached out to the proper authorities who then collaborated and collected the specimen carefully and legally.
The new paper, titled: ‘First chimeroid fish egg capsule (Chondrichthyes, Holocephali, Chimaeriformes) from upper Eocene Carmanah Group strata, West Coat of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada‘, is published in the Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences.
The research paper citation is:
Johns, M.J., Fischer, J., Makahnouk, W.R.M., Nyborg, T., Deom, E., Bowen, D., and Bartlett, R. 2025. First chimaeroid fish egg capsule (Chondrichthyes, Holocephali, Chimaeriformes) from upper Eocene Carmanah Group strata, West Coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 62(5): 1013–1042 (2025) | dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjes-2024-0096.
Copies of the paper can be obtained from the CJES at their web page (the link is: https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/10.1139/cjes-2024-0096 where there also is a large photo of the specimen) or by direct request for the research paper from Marji.
Congratulations Marji! We know how much work is involved in publishing, and VicPS is pleased to have played a small part in helping to retrieve the specimen from the beach.
The Victoria Palaeontology Society needs your help.
After 26 years, the wonderful partnership with Swan Lake & Christmas Hill Nature Sanctuary – host to our annual Fossil Fair – has come to an end. This change is a loss, and also an opportunity.
Our deepest gratitude to Swan Lake. They have been an incredible partner over the years, on so many levels. Just one example: access to their microscopes has enabled us to engage the public in exploring the beautiful microfossils that add so much to our knowledge of the past.
We now have the challenge of finding a new partner for this annual event. A new partner and a new location may offer new opportunities. We get to re-envision Fossil Fair and incorporate some of the ideas we’ve dreamed of over the years and were unable to accommodate due to space and time constraints.
Finding a new venue and new partner will be VicPS’ top focus. Please let us know if you, someone you know, or an organization you know might make a good partner for Fossil Fairs going forward; and we’ll aproach them to discuss the details.
Below, as one document, are a letter of introduction and a Fossil Fair proposal. Please review it and distribute it thoughtfully in aid of VicPS’ search for a new Fossil Fair partner.
If you’re heading to Hornby Island this weekend, be sure to visit the Hornby Island Fossil Fair, presented by our friends of the Vancouver Island Paleontological Society.
Now fossil fair 2024 is in the rearview mirror, here are some words from our president about the event:
The VicPS annual Fossil Fair at Swan Lake was March 23rd-24th. About 250 people attended, down almost half from some previous years, but enthusiasm and interaction were up, and more than 100 kids participated in the annual scavenger hunt to find specimens in the collection. The National Geographic Fossil Dig/ID kits were a big hit among this year’s winners, as was the ‘Happy Little Dinosaur’ board game. … New this year was a poster about the Nigel House vertebrate fossils found near Swan Lake. A shout-out to Edward Davies for sharing dozens of high-resolution slides and photos from which we were able to put together a poster. Fossil ID is always a favourite among volunteers and this year IDs offered a few very exciting moments. We had the highest number of fossils brought to Fossil Fair for identification in recent memory. A few notable specimens:
- Mt. Tzouhalem, Duncan – Hexanchid shark teeth, several Glyptoxoceras specimens with helix intact, and what appears to be a cross-section of a coral (button, hexacoral—still seeking verification). …
- Gulf Islands – A brachiopod from Russell Island. We don’t get many specimens brought in from the Islands (other than Hornby and Saltspring), so this was interesting.
- Bone material, Northern BC – What appears to be marine reptile. As is often the case, the exact location of the discovery is unclear, as this was found some time ago by a family member of the person who brought it in for identification. The family is trying to establish providence.
We brought the RBCM and GSC into the conversation to assist with identification. Those conversations are ongoing.
This year, the RBCM and Fossil Management Office were unable to participate in Fossil Fair due to other commitments, and a few other usual volunteers were unable to attend. VicPS member Kalene (who works at DinoLab) offered up a few volunteers, plus an Elasmosaurus paddle (full scale) model (thanks, Kalene!). DinoLab’s Kirsten had the kids doing Elasmosaurus ‘high-fives’ and it was a great opportunity to showcase the new provincial fossil and hand out lapel buttons provided by the Fossil Mangement Office (thank you, Elisabeth and Genivieve for the buttons!). Serendipitously, the DinoLab preparator who volunteered on Sunday (Jake) was the only Fossil Fair volunteer experienced in working with bone, and in particular marine reptile specimens, and recognized the specimen brought in for identification as likely marine reptile. His hunch was later supported by vertebrate experts in our network. As is our usual way of working, VicPS members came together in the week before the event to ensure lots of volunteers were on hand when the event weekend arrived. Thanks to John, Carol, Caleb, Justin and Thor for participating. …
Our website now has a page that shows the Google calendar for the vicpalaeo@gmail.com account that our president generally uses to communicate by email with members. All those events that we’re being notifed about can be found listed there. Note that field trips will continue to lack info about where we’re going; look to your email for those details as the field trip date approaches.
From the top level menu, Events->Calendar of Events should get you to https://vicpalaeo.org/events/.
As the 14th BC Paleontological Symposium approaches, our planned activities are being better defined, as this workshop on identifying ammonites in BC shows:
If you want to know your Bostrychoceras from your Glyptoxoceras, this workshop’s for you! Ammonites are the most abundant fossil cephalopods on the planet. With over 1,500 recorded genera and 10,000 species, identification can be daunting. In this 2-hour, hand-on workshop, BCPA Chair Dan Bowen will share tips and tricks for ammonite identification including basic terminology, morphology and key diagnostic characteristics as they relate to the most common ammonites found in BC. Test your new-found skills on workshop specimens, or bring your own specimens for practice.
Yet another update on the progress that’s been made toward the 14th BC Paleontological Symposium being a success has been issued. Please read all about it here.
Please note that the Abstracts Submission Deadline has been extended to March 18, midnight!
