A L B E R T A • P A L A E O N T O L O G I C A L • S O C I E T Y VOLUME 8 NUMBER 3 SEPTEMBER 1993 1 ALBERTA PALAEONTOLOGICAL SOCIETY OFFICERS DIRECTORS President Les Adler 289-9972 Editor Howard Allen 274-1858 Vice-President Peter Meyer 289-4135 Membership Vaclav Marsovsky 547-0182 Treasurer Roger Arthurs 279-5966 Program Coordinator Holger Hartmaier 938-5941 Secretary Don Sabo 282-2512 Curator Harvey Negrich 249-4497 Past-President Percy Strong 242-4735 Librarian Gerry Morgan 241-0963 Field Trip Coordinator Les Fazekas 248-7245 Director at Large Dr. David Mundy 281-3668 APAC† Representative Wayne Braunberger 278-5154 The Society was incorporated in 1986, as a non-profit organization formed to: a. Promote the science of palaeontology through study and education. b. Make contributions to the science by: 1) discovery 4) education of the general public 2) collection 5) preservation of material for study and the future 3) description c. Provide information and expertise to other collectors. d. Work with professionals at museums and universities to add to the palaeontological collections of the province (preserve Alberta’s heritage) MEMBERSHIP: Any person with a sincere interest in palaeontology is eligible to present their application for membership in the Society. Single membership $10.00 annually Family or Institution $15.00 annually THE BULLETIN WILL BE PUBLISHED QUARTERLY: March, June, September and December. Deadline for submitting material for publication is the 15th of the month prior to publication. Society Mailing Address: Material for Bulletin: Alberta Palaeontological Society Howard Allen, Editor, APS P.O. Box 35111, Sarcee Postal Outlet 7828 Hunterslea Crescent, N.W. Calgary, Alberta, Canada T3E 7C7 Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2K 4M2 Requests for missing issues of the Bulletin should be addressed to the editor. NOTICE: Readers are advised that opinions expressed in the articles are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the viewpoint of the Society. Except for articles marked “Copyright ©,” reprinting of articles by exchange bulletins is permitted, as long as appropriate credit is given. †APAC is the Alberta Palaeontological Advisory Committee ******** UPCOMING APS MEETINGS Meetings take place at 7:30 p.m., in Room B108, Mount Royal College: 4825 Richard Way SW, Calgary, Alberta September 17—Show-and-tell: bring your finds and photos from the summer of ‘93 October 15—(tentative) A presentation by the organizers of Dinotour. November 19—(tentative) A visit to the home of Dr. Barry Richards, a private collector. ******** ON THE COVER: Graphite rubbings of Ogygopsis klotzi (Rominger). Middle Cambrian Stephen Formation, Mount Stephen trilobite beds, Yoho National Park, British Columbia. Rubbings by Howard Allen. 2 President’s Message From the Editor… by Les Adler by Howard Allen Having had a summer break, with initially cold We won!…sort of. Won what? The Gem and and wet conditions, we are now able to settle down Mineral Federation of Canada (GMFC) holds an and review our operations. Holger Hartmaier has annual club newsletter contest, in which rock clubs about six programs in reserve which will take us submit their bulletins and newsletters for judging into March of 1994. The September meeting will against a score sheet. Trudy Martin of the review trips and collections, while in November Calgary Rock and Lapidary Club was kind and January we expect to view collections in pri- enough to submit our APS Bulletin of September vate homes in Calgary. In October we will possi- and December 1992 and March 1993. The results? bly see a show from the Dinotour people. In Out of a possible 100 points, the three issues of December and January we will see videos. our Bulletin scored an average of 72.66%. This Finances are in good order and most of our netted us a handsome “Level 3 Certificate of bills have been paid, leaving us with a reserve of Achievement.” In the words of Trudy Martin, one about $800. We would like to sell more T-shirts. of the judges: “You did very well considering you These are an excellent buy, with four colours and a hadn’t seen the score sheet before.” superior custom design by Mike Skrepnick. I Now that I have seen the score sheet, a pattern consider that the printed advertisement does not do is evident in the points distribution. The Bulletin justice to the product. Also we now have to com- consistently garnered full marks, or high marks in pete against Jurassic Park T-shirts and a set of four many categories: legibility; easy and pleasant from Canada Post. reading; format, design, layout; vital information At the date of writing (early August because of (page 1 stuff); variety of subject material; extend- publication deadlines), two field trips had taken ed information (provincial, national, international place. Each trip had about 11 persons in atten- news, etc.); and general appeal. dance with 90% expressing strong satisfaction be- So far so good. However, when it comes down cause of the material collected. The first trip, re- to one of the major categories—club news—the viewed elsewhere in this issue, produced Bulletin trips and pretty much falls on its face. Cretaceous mosasaur vertebrae, parts of crayfish, Here’s how we scored in this category: and molluscs, including an excellent ammonite. CLUB NEWS – 30 points possible On the second trip, members found Mississippian shark teeth fragments and one shark spine, possi- max. Sept Dec Mar bly Xenacanthus sp. The 10% dissatisfaction was Program: announced & described 5 3 3 3 due mainly to poor camping conditions, such as review of previous program 5 3 5 0 strong winds blowing down tents, cold tempera- Major activity/business of last meeting 5 0 0 0 Field trips, workshops, other activities 5 5 5 5 tures, dampness underfoot, mosquito bites and Coming events 5 0 0 0 steep hiking. We urgently need to get our third- Personal news of members 5 0 0 0 party insurance in order. ____ ____ ____ ____ With Howard Allen continuing as editor, and 30 11 13 8 illustrations to come from Chris Bretz, other ma- terial expected from Heather Whitehead and my- See what I mean? When it comes to club news, self, and reports from other contributors, you will the Bulletin is all sizzle and no steak. What can we continue to receive an outstanding Bulletin on a do to boost our score? First, we need some volun- regular basis. The Bulletin will keep you up-to- teers to take a few notes during or after the meet- date with reviews of recent events, exhibitions, ings: a paragraph or two about who gave the pre- scientific articles, news reports and forthcoming sentation and what it was about. Heather trips. (If you have the cash and the time, dinosaur Whitehead used to do a fine job of this, but she trips have been planned for the USA, Mexico, now lives halfway across the continent! How Argentina and southern England.) I will be asking about “coming events?” I’m sure someone hears Howard to publish an up-to-date list of what is in about rock shows and exhibitions (the CRLC the APS library, and a complete membership list. show, Dinamation, dino lectures, other provincial We now have strong participation by about 22 and national events). Maybe we should print the members: some financial, some in services (partic- minutes of the general and executive meetings. As ularly Mount Royal College’s contributions) and for “personal news of members”—sometimes no hopefully with a stronger participation from a few news is good news—but how about awards or others you can look forward to the Society contin- recognition in the media? Let’s see if we can get uing to help you enjoy your interest in fossils. ❏ rid of some of those goose-eggs before the next GMFC contest. ❏ 3 fossils, history, archaeology, art and natural histo- Dinotour 1993: An Overview ry. A nurse also accompanies the trip. by Les Adler Through these trips we have been able to make personal friends of several of the world’s A group of Dr. Philip Currie’s ex-students of leading vertebrate palaeontologists and to visit dinosaurs banded together and set up a committee classical sites and see work in progress. We are to develop a series of non-profit expeditions from now better acquainted with Utahraptor, Calgary to Mexico, visiting museums, dinosaur Coelophysis, Triceratops, Allosaurus, Maiasaura, track-sites and quarries, dinosaur sculptors, and Stegosaurus, Diplodocus, Apatosaurus, Rutidon, historical, archaeological, geological and physio- Tyrannosaurus, Ornitholestes, Supersaurus, graphical locations: Brachiosaurus and Ultrasaurus, as well as Triassic • 1991– Calgary to northeastern Utah via Alberta, plants. Montana and Wyoming. I have assembled a photo album with 500 pic- tures and an accompanying calligraphic commen- • 1992– Salt Lake City to Colorado and Utah. tary. When in Calgary, ask to see the album. ❏ • 1993– Denver, Colorado to New Mexico, Arizona to Salt Lake City. 1993 Field Trip Report • 1994– Texas and Mexico, including Fort Worth, by Howard Allen Glen Rose, Austin, Riverwalk, Big Bend, Lubbock. Coronation & Hanna (Carolside Dam), Dinosaur locations are often far apart in isolat- Alberta (June 19 – 20) ed, barren locations so that an early start has to be By a miracle of good luck, one of the few nice made for several long days; transfer to trucks may weekends this summer actually coincided with our be necessary. Heinz Kluth has been the regular first field trip of the season. Two parties headed to Cardinal Lines bus driver and is well aware of the the Coronation town campground the evening of idiosyncrasies involved for trips with fossil enthu- Friday the 18th, where we were treated to a minor siasts on board.