P a l æ o n t o l o g i c a l S o c i e t y B u l l e t i n VOLUMEA 14 • NUMBER l 4 b e r t a DECEMBER 1999 ALBERTA PALÆONTOLOGICAL SOCIETY OFFICERS President Vaclav Marsovsky 547-0182 Program Coordinator Kris Vasudevan 288-7955 Vice-President Cory Gross 720-5725 Curator Ron Fortier 285-8041 Treasurer Cindy Evans 285-0144 Librarian Mona Marsovsky 547-0182 Secretary Harold Whittaker 286-0349 Events Coordinator Keith Mychaluk 228-3211 Past-President Wayne Braunberger 278-5154 Director at Large Dr. David Mundy 281-3668 DIRECTORS Editor Howard Allen 274-1858 Social Director Les Adler 289-9972 Membership Howard Allen †APAC Representative Don Sabo 278-8045 †APAC is the Alberta Palæontological Advisory Committee The Society was incorporated in 1986, as a non-profit organization formed to: a. Promote the science of palæontology 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 palæontological collections of the province (preserve Alberta’s heritage). MEMBERSHIP: Any person with a sincere interest in palæontology is eligible to present their application for membership in the Society. (Please enclose membership dues with your request for application.) Single membership $15.00 annually Family or Institution $20.00 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 (E-mail [email protected]) NOTICE: Readers are advised that opinions expressed in the articles are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the view- point of the Society. Except for articles marked “Copyright ©,” reprinting of articles by exchange bulletins is permitted, as long as appropriate credit is given. Requests for missing issues of the Bulletin should be addressed to the Editor. UPCOMING APS MEETINGS Except where noted otherwise, meetings take place at 7:30 P.M., in Room B108, Mount Royal College: 4825 Richard Road SW, Calgary, Alberta Friday, December 17, 1999—Special Event: see back cover of this issue. Saturday, January 22, 2000—Special Event: see back cover of this issue. February 18, 1999—(Program to be announced.) March 17, 1999—Darla Zelenitsky, University of Calgary: Dinosaur Eggs. ON THE COVER: A pair of pachycephalosaurs, Stegoceras validum (Late Cretaceous, Alberta). Art by APS Member Cory Gross © 1998. Korite Minerals Ltd. Ammolite 1999 Field Trip Quarry, Magrath, Alberta (July 17) he Alberta Palæontological Society was very Reports T fortunate this year in having the opportunity not only to visit, but to collect at the Korite Miner- by Keith Mychaluk als Ltd. Ammolite quarry site near Magrath. Our group of thirty-six members, including eight chil- Wolf Coulee and Princess, Alberta dren, was only the second to have a formal tour of (June 19 and 20) Korite’s operation in twenty years (the first was a group attending the AAPG Annual Convention in wenty-five members, including seven chil- Calgary, in 1982). Myself and two professors from T dren, enjoyed a successful two-day field the University of Calgary (Drs. A.A. Levinson and trip to Wolf Coulee and Princess, Alberta. Mem- R.L. Hall) are currently working on a paper on bers joined us from as far away as La Palma, Cali- Ammolite to be published in Gems & Gemology fornia (Steven & Kris Moskowitz) and Salt Spring early next year. While working on the paper we ar- Island, B.C (Susan Huber). Both Upper Creta- ranged for the APS to tour the quarry site in July. ceous sites are located just south of Dinosaur Korite extracts the gemstone Ammolite from a Provincial Park, near Brooks, Alberta, within the rare variety of ammonite shell found only in the Judith River Group. Although much of the Alberta Bearpaw Formation shales of southern Alberta summer was wet this year, we enjoyed clear, sunny (Upper Cretaceous). Korite’s two large quarries weather for the entire trip. supply approximately 90% of all commercially On Saturday Wayne Braunberger introduced available Ammolite gemstones (used in rings, us to a well-documented microvertebrate fossil site necklaces and pendants). Members enjoyed a in Wolf Coulee. The site, designated as “Bonebed highly educational field trip led by Korite’s presi- 120” in the literature, yielded a surprising amount dent Pierre Pare. Everyone was very impressed of fossil material, considering the popularity of the with Pierre’s informative presentations throughout site. Members collected teeth from crocodiles, the day. Members were even allowed to collect theropods, fish and rays as well as vertebrae from pieces of very colourful ammonite shell (Placen- champsosaurs and fish. Some members even ticeras meeki) as well as Baculites and bivalves found a few very rare mammal teeth. I was fortu- (Arctica and Inoceramus). A couple of very large nate enough to collect two ankylosaur teeth and a ammonites (the size of a car tire) were found with- large (8 cm long) Albertosaurus tooth. Saturday in very heavy concretionary ironstone matrix. evening several members enjoyed dinner at the Pa- Each took two or three people to lift! tricia Hotel BBQ Pit, in nearby Patricia, where pa- Thanks again to Pierre for a fantastic day! trons can cook their own 16-ounce steaks over a On the following day rain cancelled our plans to large open flame grill. No tofu burgers served here! visit the Blood Reserve Formation outcrops near On Sunday morning we gathered once again at Monarch, Alberta (this site was previously visited the Dinosaur Corner gas station outside of Patricia by the Society on July 16, 1994.) and drove out to Princess. The Princess sites are located near a large gas pipeline compressor sta- Burgess Shale, Yoho National Park, tion operated by TransCanada Pipelines (formerly Nova). Although there are several large coulees British Columbia (August 21) throughout the Princess area, many of them are covered in short prairie grass, thereby limiting ex- n August 21, fourteen APS members partici- posure of Cretaceous outcrops. A lot of hiking and Opated in the Parks Canada guided hike exploring was required to find exposures and fos- to the Burgess Shale, arguably the most important sils. However, most members were successful in lo- fossil locality in the world. Starting at the thunder- cating small sites containing a mix of both micro- ing Takakkaw waterfall, our guides, David Moore and macrovertebrate fossils, including hadrosaur and Carole Augereau, led us up 760 metres in ele- vertebrae. Roslyn Osztian collected some skull vation to the Walcott Quarry site in the Stephen fragments that she was planning to have identified. Formation, past some of the most beautiful moun- Wayne Braunberger discovered a portion of a tain scenery in the world. Breathtaking views of turtle skull. I collected three 3 cm long theropod Emerald Lake and alpine glaciers were witnessed teeth and one small (0.75 cm long) raptor tooth. all day long. Local inhabitants, including several APS Bulletin 2 December 1999 pikas, marmots and squirrels, greeted us along the Coulee trip alone, but only 25 attended. I ended up way. Our guides stopped many times to provide with about 10 or 20 extra field guides for the Wolf historical and ecological presentations on the local Coulee and Korite Quarry field trips. area. The long hike lasted about ten hours (round As a result, there will be some changes for next trip). year’s field trips. The $5.00 per membership user Once at the top, we found Dr. Desmond Collins fee for field trips will now be collected in advance and three of his crew from the Royal Ontario Mu- (i.e. the day you sign up). The fee will be refund- seum working at the quarry. Just that day they had able up to two weeks prior to each trip. The field found a portion of an Anomalocaris, the first such trip guide will then go to press within the two example recovered from that site. Dr. Collins pre- weeks prior to each trip, whereby the $5.00 fee be- sented many excellent fossils as well as the current comes non-refundable. Hopefully, this will solve environmental and evolutionary interpretations of two problems: first, we should be able to cut down the Burgess Shale. Dr. Collins has a very limited on the number of unnecessary copies of field trip field season at the quarry due to the high elevation guides. Second, we hope to cut back on the num- (2400 metres above sea level). Typically the site is ber of people who opt out of the trips at the last snowed-in from late September to early July, so we minute. Hopefully the non-refundable two week would like to thank Dr. Collins for taking the time period prior to each trip will accomplish that. The to speak with our group. This was Dr. Collins’ six- dates for our three field trips are published four to teenth year excavating at the Walcott Quarry. six months in advance—please plan ahead. Unlike As one of Canada’s ten UNESCO World Her- this year, in the 2000 field season there will be no itage Sites, fossil-collecting was not allowed. How- exemptions for paying the $5.00 fee. These changes ever, there were many opportunities to observe were all unanimously approved in a recent execu- and photograph the half-a-billion year-old fossils.