1-26 Earth Sciences Building Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences University of Alberta (Please email me if you would like paper reprints or .pdf copies.)
Abstract: A new phacopid trilobite is described from the Givetian sequence of the Awaynat Wanin Group in the southern Ghadamis Basin, Libya. The specimen displays most of the eye and sculpture features necessary for a determination and can be restricted to Pedinopariops (Hypsipariops) Struve, 1982. The new specimen does not belong to any taxon known so far and hence is considered to be a new species. The specimen remains in open nomenclature and is assigned to Pedinopariops (Hypsipariops) sp. nov. A. This is the first Devonian trilobite described from Libya, and represents an unusual occurrence of Phacopidae in a relatively coarse siliciclastic facies.
Abstract: A limited assemblage of insect compression fossils is described from a lithographic limestone of marine origin, within Cenomanian–Turonian strata of southeastern Morocco. Specimens recovered to date include a putative isopteran (termite) and two polyphagan beetles. Found in the same horizon as these insects are leaves that display traces of insect damage, in the form of leaf margin-feeding behavior. The new insect fossils are an uncommon subcomponent of a commercially-mined assemblage of fossil fish, marine arthropods, and plants, but the relatively fine preservation of fossil insects collected to date suggests that the Late Cretaceous strata of Morocco have the potential to yield a significant addition to the fossil record of insects.
Abstract: An overview of the hymenopteran (sawflies, wasps, ants, and bees) taxa known from Canadian Late Cretaceous (Campanian) amber is presented. These taxa are discussed in the context of hymenopteran phylogeny and the fossil assemblages within other well-known Cretaceous ambers. This provides some insight into the taxa present in the region subsequent to the Mesozoic diversification of the order, and just prior to the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event. Fossil records of Hymenoptera within Canadian amber are revised, and future work and expectations for hymenopterans within the deposit are also outlined.
Abstract: Dove and Straker question our interpretations of plumage from Late Cretaceous Canadian amber.Although we are able to refute concerns regarding both specimen taphonomy and misidentificationas botanical fossils, unequivocal assignment to either birds or dinosaurs remains impossible,as we stated originally. However, reported observations and their further refinement herein are insufficient to falsify the hypothesized dinosaurian origin for protofeathers.
Abstract: A new genus and species of microphysid bug is described and illustrated from two individuals preserved in Late Cretaceous (Campanian) amber from Alberta, Canada. Popovophysa entzmingeri gen. et sp. nov. is distinguished from its fossil and modern counterparts. The new species has attributes of the two currently recognized subfamilies Ciorullinae and Microphysinae, suggesting that those taxa may not be distinct and are in need of cladistic analysis.
Abstract: Despite centuries of research addressing amber and its various inclusions, relatively little is known about the specific events having stimulated the production of geologically relevant volumes of plant resin, ultimately yielding amber deposits. Although numerous hypotheses have invoked the role of insects, to date these have proven difficult to test. Here, we use the current mountain pine beetle outbreak in western Canada as an analogy for the effects of infestation on the stable isotopic composition of carbon in resins. We show that infestation results in a rapid (approx. 1 year) 13C enrichment of fresh lodgepole pine resins, in a pattern directly comparable with that observed in resins collected from uninfested trees subjected to water stress. Furthermore, resin isotopic values are shown to track both the progression of infestation and instances of recovery. These findings can be extended to fossil resins, including Miocene amber from the Dominican Republic and Late Cretaceous New Jersey amber, revealing similar carbon-isotopic patterns between visually clean ambers and those associated with the attack of wood-boring insects. Plant exudate δ13C values constitute a sensitive monitor of ecological stress in both modern and ancient forest ecosystems, and provide considerable insight concerning the genesis of amber in the geological record.
Abstract: The fossil record of early feathers has relied on carbonized compressions that lack fine structural detail. Specimens in amber are preserved in greater detail, but they are rare. Late Cretaceous coal-rich strata from western Canada provide the richest and most diverse Mesozoic feather assemblage yet reported from amber. The fossils include primitive structures closely matching the protofeathers of nonavian dinosaurs, offering new insights into their structure and function. Additional derived morphologies confirm that plumage specialized for flight and underwater diving had evolved in Late Cretaceous birds. Because amber preserves feather structure and pigmentation in unmatched detail, these fossils provide novel insights regarding feather evolution.
Abstract: New material of the wasp family Maimetshidae (Apocrita) is presented from four Cretaceous amber deposits – the Neocomian of Lebanon, the Early Albian of Spain, the latest Albian/earliest Cenomanian of France, and the Campanian of Canada. The new record from Canadian Cretaceous amber extends the temporal and paleogeographical range of the family. New material from France is assignable to Guyotemaimetsha enigmatica Perrichot et al. including the first females for the species, while a series of males and females from Spain are described and figured as Iberomaimetsha Ortega-Blanco, Perrichot & Engel, gen. n., with the two new species Iberomaimetsha rasnitsyni Ortega-Blanco, Perrichot & Engel, sp. n. and I.
nihtmara Ortega-Blanco, Delclòs & Engel, sp. n.; a single female from Lebanon is described and figured as Ahiromaimetsha najlae Perrichot, Azar, Nel & Engel, gen. et sp. n., and a single male from Canada is described and figured as Ahstemiam cellula McKellar & Engel, gen. et sp. n. The taxa are compared with other maimetshids, a key to genera and species is given, and brief comments made on the family.
Abstract: Three new species within the stigmaphronid genus Tagsmiphron Engel and Grimaldi, 2009, and one new species within the megaspilid genus Conostigmus Dahlbom, 1858 are described from Upper Cretaceous (Campanian) amber originating at the Grassy Lake locality in Alberta, Canada. New taxa include Tagsmiphron spiculum sp. nov., T. leucki sp. nov., T. exitorum sp. nov., and Conostigmus cavannus sp. nov. The new Conostigmus species is a rare discovery. It is the third megaspilid species to be found in Cretaceous amber, with the two specimens described herein effectively doubling the number of known Mesozoic exemplars for the family. We provide the first comprehensive report of known Ceraphronoidea within Canadian amber, and contrast this against other Cretaceous amber assemblages, discussing the potential palaeobiogeographic and palaeoenvironmental implications of the Canadian amber assemblage.
Abstract: Trilobites of the family Phacopidae occur throughout the Lower and Middle Devonian strata of southern Morocco. This region is renowned for its large numbers of articulated trilobites, with preservation matched by few other regions. In this study, select phacopids from a number of lithologies are described and subjected to cladistic analysis in order to assess their relationships. New species or subspecies
are named within Phacops and within two proposed new genera, Austerops new genus, and Barrandeops new genus. These taxa include: Phacops araw new species, Austerops kermiti new species, A. salamandar new species, A. speculator punctatus new subspecies, Barrandeops ovatus new species, and B. forteyi new species. Additionally, the new species Boeckops stelcki and Reedops pembertoni are described and considered alongside recently published taxa including Barrandeops granulops (Chatterton et ai., 2006), B.lebesus (Chatterton et ai., 2006), and Austerops smoothops (Chatterton et ai., 2006). The cladistic analysis performed
here impacts many of the genera and subgenera currently recognized within Devonian Phacopidae, and the higher level taxonomy of this family.
Abstract: Baltic amber constitutes the largest known deposit of fossil plant resin and the richest repository of fossil insects of any age. Despite a remarkable legacy of archaeological, geochemical and palaeobiological investigation, the botanical origin of this exceptional resource remains controversial. Here, we use taxonomically explicit applications of solid-state Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) microspectroscopy, coupled with multivariate clustering and palaeobotanical observations, to propose that conifers of the family Sciadopityaceae, closely allied to the sole extant representative, Sciadopitys verticillata, were involved in the genesis of Baltic amber. The fidelity of FTIR-based chemotaxonomic inferences is upheld by modern-fossil comparisons of resins from additional conifer families and genera (Cupressaceae: Metasequoia; Pinaceae: Pinus and Pseudolarix). Our conclusions challenge hypotheses advocating members of either of the families Araucariaceae or Pinaceae as the primary amber-producing trees and correlate favourably with the progressive demise of subtropical forest biomes from northern Europe as palaeotemperatures cooled following the Eocene climate optimum.
Abstract: Albertoberotha leuckorum McKellar and Engel, a new genus and species of the neuropteran family Rhachiberothidae is described from Upper Cretaceous (Campanian) amber from the Grassy Lake locality in Alberta, Canada. Rhachiberothidae today consist of 13 species from sub-saharan Africa; but 12 species in amber throughout the Northern Hemisphere indicate that the family was global at least 125–45 mya. Despite the extent of existing studies pertaining to amber-entombed neuropterans, only members of the Berothidae and Chrysopidae have been conclusively reported from Canadian amber to date. We describe the first representative of the Rhachiberothidae to be observed in Campanian amber and draw comparisons with genera in other Cretaceous deposits.
Abstract: The Late Cretaceous Grassy Lake and Cedar Lake amber deposits of western Canada are among North America’s most famous amber-producing localities. Although it has been suggested for over a century that Cedar Lake amber from western Manitoba may be a secondary deposit having originated from strata in Alberta, this hypothesis has not been tested explicitly using geochemical fingerprinting coupled to comparative analyses of arthropod faunal content. Although there are many amber-containing horizons associated with Cretaceous coals throughout Alberta, most are thermally mature and brittle, thus lacking the resilience to survive long distance transport while preserving intact biotic inclusions. One of the few exceptions is the amber found in situ at Grassy Lake. We present a suite of new analyses from these and other Late Cretaceous ambers from western Canada, including stable isotopes (H and C), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra, and an updated faunal compendium for the Grassy and Cedar lakes arthropod assemblages. When combined with amber’s physical properties and stratigraphic constraints, the results of these analyses confirm that Cedar Lake amber is derived directly from the Grassy Lake amber deposit or an immediate correlative equivalent. This enables the palaeoenvironmental context of Grassy Lake amber to be extended to the Cedar Lake deposit, making possible a more inclusive survey of Cretaceous arthropod faunas.
Abstract: Diverse and abundant trilobite faunas occur in several beds near the base of the section of the upper Emsian to Eifelian Timrhanrhart Formation exposed at Jbel Gara el Zguilma, south of Foum Zguid in Morocco. While trilobites occur throughout much of this section, they are exquisitely preserved and most diverse in the lowest (upper Emsian) portion. Several of the trilobite species are commercially available, but their taxonomy has never been formalized, and their field occurrence has not previously been described. Near the base of the section, two nodular argillaceous limestone beds contain highly diverse trilobite faunas, with many spectacular spiny forms. These include examples deviating from bilateral symmetry that are apparently unique in the Trilobita. Alpha diversity is high, with as many as 23 trilobite species in one bed. We suggest that these nodular beds represent thick, rapidly emplaced storm obrution deposits that underwent transport for a short distance before the trilobites came to rest in chaotic burial orientations. Calcareous nodule formation during early diagenesis protected the trilobites from compaction. Higher in the same section, in strata of Eifelian age, trilobite faunas are of lower diversity, and composed mainly of species of Phacops, Hollardops and Parahomalonotus, although one horizon has an alpha diversity of at least 9 species. Twenty three new species-level taxa include: Acastoides zguilmensis, Acastoides haddadi, Coltraneia effelesa, Cyphaspis agayuara, C. eberhardiei, C. hamidi, Diademaproetus mohamedi, Gerastos tuberculatus marocensis, Hollardops aithassainorum, Kayserops tamnrherta, Koneprusia dahmani, Leonaspis haddanei, L. spinicurva, Parahomalonotus calvus, Phacops granulops, P. lebesus, P. smoothops, Psychopyge hammerorum, Scabriscutellum hammadi, S. lahceni, Tropidocoryphe amuri, Walliserops hammii, and W. tridens. Cyphaspis new species A is known only from a single cephalon. "Sculptoproetus" new species A and "S." new species B are being named in another work that will appear in print after this work.
Abstract: Recent work upon two extinct families of parasitoid wasps in Canadian Cretaceous amber has provided new insights into the temporal and paleobiogeographic distribution of taxa within these enigmatic families. Members of the Serphitidae and Stigmaphronidae are known exclusively from Cretaceous amber deposits. Canadian amber (Campanian, Late Cretaceous) currently provides the last records for these families prior to the Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction, and the only records on the western side of the Western Interior Seaway. To date, sixty individuals representing six serphitid species, and four individuals representing four stigmaphronid species have been discovered in Canadian amber. The relative abundance and diversity of these two families, as preserved in Canadian amber, differs significantly from the assemblages found in Spanish amber (Early Albian, Early Cretaceous) and New Jersey amber (Turonian, Late Cretaceous). Possible explanations for these discrepancies include differences in the availability of host taxa for the wasp families; a different type of amber-producing forest, set within a slightly different environment; or limitations attributable to either the paleobiogeographic or temporal ranges of the taxa examined.
Abstract: δ 13C of plant tissues is known to reflect water stress. To date, most studies of trees have focused upon the variability observed in xylem, or partitioning between plant structures. Although these investigations provide insight into forest conditions at annual intervals, or at different positions within the canopy, they do not address short-term events. Bark burrowing beetles kill trees by girdling their trunks and introducing fungi which disrupt water supply to the canopy. Secondary metabolites, such as modern resin or ancient amber, may record the progression of insect infestations. Conifers maintain a store of constitutive resin within their resin ducts and produce voluminous defensive resin when stressed. Variability in the stable isotopic composition of these two resin types allow us to observe the onset of insect attack. Here we present preliminary results from an investigation into the effects of Dendroctonus ponderosae (mountain pine beetle) infestation in northern Alberta, Canada upon the carbon and hydrogen composition of Pinus contorta latifolia (lodgepole pine) resin. These data (δ13C of resin from infested trees ranging from -27.55‰ to -25.61‰, -26.80‰ mean; un-infested tress ranging from -29.54‰ to -27.43‰, -28.23‰ mean) show that there is discernible 13C enrichment in resins released during early stages of bark beetle infestation. Additionally, resin hydrogen composition provides an indicator of the local meteoric water values during resin production, and the approximate duration of exposure for individual resin samples. Distributional trends observed within the modern resin stable isotope values appear analogous to those observed within Turonian (Late Cretaceous) New Jersey amber (δ13C of barren amber with -22.41‰ mean, insect-bearing amber with -21.91‰ mean, and fire-related amber with -20.60‰ mean). Amber from this deposit is known to contain fossil bark beetles, and the bulk of the deposit is thought to have formed under similar infestation conditions. Such analogies offer insights into paleoforest conditions and the events surrounding amber production.
Abstract: Phacopid trilobites are among the most ubiquitous fossils within the Lower and Middle Devonian strata of Morocco, and display a diversity of form seen at no other point in the history of the family. The southern and southeastern margins of Morocco are ideal for studying the Phacopidae through this time interval, because rock units of this age are present in long, continuous exposures that are traceable for many kilometers along strike, only affected by low amplitude folding and minor faulting. Furthermore, the fossils themselves show articulation and preservation matched in few other localities (making complete, definitive descriptions possible), and are commercially mined by the local Berbers (making specimens available in large numbers). This study is of the phacopids, as they occur in correlatable strata from the three major Devonian basins in southern Morocco (the Tindouf, Tafilalt, and Ma'der basins), and shows that their presence is useful for correlation within and between these basins, as well as farther abroad. In the process, 11 new taxa of specific or subspecific rank are described, including a single new species of Reedops, a single new species of Boeckops, and 6 new species/subspecies of Phacops. (Three additional Phacops species from this region have been described recently in Chatterton et al., 2006, including Phacops smoothops, P. granulops, and P. lebesus). New information is also provided for Reedops bronni (Barrande, 1846), R. cephalotes hamlagdadianus Alberti, 1983, Pedinopariops (Hypsipariops) vagabundus Struve, 1990, Drotops megalomanicus megalomanicus Struve, 1990, and D. armatus Struve, 1995. Cladistic analysis of these taxa and other pertinent phacopids suggests the relationships of these taxa, and has implications for their higher-level taxonomic placement. The in-depth study of large numbers of Reedops and Phacops specimens, in a wide range of depositional settings, has also led to some insights into their life-modes, enrollment behaviours, sculpture, and coaptative devices.
