Palæontological Society Bulletin VOALUME 17 • NUMBERl 4be www.albertapaleo.orgrta DECEMBER 2002 ALBERTA PALÆONTOLOGICAL SOCIETY OFFICERS MEMBERSHIP: Any person with a sincere interest in President Dan Quinsey 247-3022 palaeontology is eligible to present their application for Vice-President Keith Mychaluk 228-3211 membership in the Society. (Please enclose membership Treasurer Mona Marsovsky 547-0182 dues with your request for application.) Secretary (acting) Vaclav Marsovsky 547-0182 Past-President Vaclav Marsovsky 547-0182 Single membership $20.00* annually Family or Institution $25.00* annually DIRECTORS Editor Howard Allen 274-1858 * A dues increase was approved at the May 2002 annual Membership Howard Allen 274-1858 meeting. This affects all new memberships and renewals. Program Coordinator Philip Benham 280-6283 THE BULLETIN WILL BE PUBLISHED QUARTERLY: Events Coordinator Wayne Braunberger 278-5154 March, June, September and December. Deadline for APPOINTMENTS submitting material for publication is the 15th of the month APAC Representative† Dan Quinsey 247-3022 prior to publication. CuratorRon Fortier 285-8041 Education Tyna Cappadocia Society Mailing Address: Fund Raising Dan Quinsey 247-3022 Alberta Palaeontological Society Librarian Mona Marsovsky 547-0182 P. O. Box 35111, Sarcee Postal Outlet Calgary, Alberta, Canada T3E 7C7 Social Director Steffie Negrich 249-4497 (Web: www.albertapaleo.org) Webmaster Vaclav Marsovsky 547-0182 † APAC is the Alberta Palaeontological Advisory Committee Material for the Bulletin: Howard Allen, Editor, APS The Society was incorporated in 1986, as a non-profit 7828 Hunterslea Crescent, N.W. organization formed to: Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2K 4M2 a. Promote the science of palaeontology through study (E-mail: [email protected]) and education. NOTICE: Readers are advised that opinions expressed in b. Make contributions to the science by: the articles are those of the author and do not necessarily 1) discovery 2) collection 3) description reflect the viewpoint of the Society. Except for articles 4) education of the general public marked “Copyright ©,” reprinting of articles by exchange 5) preservation of material for study and the future bulletins is permitted, as long as appropriate credit is given. Requests for missing issues of the Bulletin should be c. Provide information and expertise to other collectors. addressed to the Editor. Back issues are available for d. Work with professionals at museums and universities purchase from the Librarian or the Editor, in hard copy or to add to the palaeontological collections of the CD-ROM formats. Copies are also available for loan in the province (preserve Alberta’s heritage). Society library. UPCOMING APS MEETINGS Meetings take place at 7:30 p.m., in Room B108 (or B101, across the hall) Mount Royal College, 4825 Richard Road SW, Calgary, Alberta Friday, January 10, 2003—Dr. Julia Sankey, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York: Latest Cretaceous Theropod Dinosaur Diversity in North America. See Page 3 for details. Friday, February 21, 2003—Dr. Russell Hall, University of Calgary: The life and science of Charles Darwin. Saturday & Sunday, March 15 & 16, 2003—The APS Seventh Annual Symposium! See Page 29 for details. ON THE COVER: Our fabulous new T-shirt design, by APS member Cory Gross! See Page 28 for information on purchasing your T-shirts and sweatshirts. All proceeds go to fund Society activities. APS Bulletin 1 December 2002 Harvey, Steffie Way ne Negrich Braunberger Awarded Life Awarded Life Membership Membership t the May 2002 general meeting of the Alberta f any member of the APS were asked to name the Palaeontological Society Harvey and Steffie one person who has made the biggest contribu- A Negrich were awarded Life Membership in Ition to our Society, they would reply without the Society. hesitation: “Wayne Braunberger—of course!” Harvey and Steffie are founding members of the Way ne was one of the founding members of the APS and have been active in amateur palaeontology Society in 1986, and its first President. Since then, his for many years. Many of the meetings of the “Fossil contributions have been so many that it would almost Group,” the forerunner of the Society, were held at the be easier to list the things he hasn’t done. Negrich home. When the Society was formed in 1986 Besides serving two full terms as President (1986– the Negriches were enthusiastic supporters and took 1988, 1995–1998), he has served as Editor (1989, an active role. Harvey took on the positions of Curator, 1990), Field Trip Coordinator (1991, current), APAC Field Trip Coordinator and APAC representative, while representative (1992–1993) and Director-at-Large. Steffie took on the positions of Secretary-Treasurer He has sat on untold numbers of Executive commit- (1986-87) and Membership (1986, 1988-89). In tees, and played major roles in the annual Symposia, addition Steffie was also involved with the production including the upcoming 2003 event. of the early Bulletins. On field trips, Wayne is pretty much a permanent Harvey started the APS fossil collection in 1984 fixture, having attended most, if not all trips held to as a project for the “Fossil Group.” The purpose was date. He has led or provided major guidance on many to create a set of reference material to help in the of the trips, scouted locations in advance, and com- identification of specimens and to provide a home piled many field trip handouts. for material that would otherwise end up in the landfill. Way ne has led seminars on fossil identification, Since then the collection has steadily grown. When curation, map reading and field methods. He has the Society was formed Harvey became Curator, a given general meeting talks on badlands geology, position he held from 1986 until 1998. In addition ammonites, map-reading, statistical methods and Harvey was also Field Trip Coordinator from 1986 ichnology, and recruited other speakers. He has con- until 1990 and the first amateur representative on the tributed dozens of articles and notices to the Bulletin. Alberta Palaeontological Advisory Committee (1982- The Society’s fossil collection has benefitted from 1987). his donation of specimens and curatorial guidance. Without the support of the Negriches it is doubtful As if this weren’t enough, anybody who has attend- that the Alberta Palaeontological Society would have ed the annual CRLC shows will recognize Wayne’s been formed. By providing a meeting place and filling ubiquitous presence as an exhibitor, organizer, judge, key positions they helped to foster the growth of the and—naturally—representative of the APS at the Society. Both Harvey and Steffie continue to support Society’s fossil ID and information booth. the Society and Steffie has taken on the position of This dossier only glosses over Wayne’s incalcul- Social director for this year. For their contributions able and continuing contributions to the Society, for to the Alberta Palaeontological Society the Negriches which he has earned our gratitude, and for which were awarded Life Membership. he was awarded the honour of Life Membership at the May 2002 general meeting. – Wayne Braunberger ❏ – Howard Allen ❏ APS Bulletin 2 December 2002 Program Summary Upcoming November 15, 2002 The Life and Death of a Graptolite: Programs Paleoecology and Taphonomy of the Cape Phillips Graptolite Fauna, Arctic Canada. NOTE! The January 2003 Meeting Speaker: Dr. Jen Russel-Houston will be held on January 10. Geologist, Frontier, Sable Development, One week early! Shell Canada Limited. Friday, January 10, 2003, Room B108 Abstract: Graptolite-bearing concretions of the Cape Phillips Latest Cretaceous Theropod Dinosaur Diversity Formation, Arctic Canada, were lithified during in North America. shallow burial, preserving the three-dimensional shape Speaker: Dr. Julia Sankey of the graptolite rhabdosomes and the character of Va ssar College, Poughkeepsie, NY the sediment before physical compaction. The graptolites and the sediments captured by this unique Abstract: preservation give insight into questions unsolved in Despite intensive work on the Cretaceous/Tertiary the studies of flattened graptolites preserved in shale. (K/T) extinctions during the past twenty years, Every graptolite sample is a record of the original surprisingly little is known about the diversity of planktonic community and the taphonomic events dinosaurs during the latest Cretaceous, prior to the that altered that original graptolite population. K/T. Critical information on Maastrichtian theropod This talk showed how the exquisitely preserved diversity has been overlooked. graptolites have aided our understanding of the This information is the thousands of isolated preservational history (taphonomy) of graptolites theropod teeth in museum collections that resulted and how these observations are used to interpret the from intensive screen washing efforts for Late Creta- composition of the original graptolite communities. ceous mammals. Unfortunately, theropod tooth tax- Dr. Russel-Houston also discussed some of the onomy is poorly developed for the Maastrichtian modern views of this ancient animal, including compared to the Campanian. This is partly due to colonial communism, graptolite mass mortality, how few non-tyrannosaurid theropod jaws with teeth fantastic Silurian predators, swimming graptolites, have been found in North America, which would and colonial sex. provide information on tooth variability. Biography: This study attempts to assess whether non-tyran- Dr. Russel-Houston