McAbee Fossil Beds

The McAbee Fossil Beds is a Heritage Site that protects an Eocene Epoch fossil locality east of Cache Creek, British Columbia, Canada, just north of and visible from Provincial Highway 97 / the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1). The McAbee Fossil Beds, comprising 548.23 hectares (1,354.7 acres), were officially designated a Provincial Heritage Site under British Columbia's Heritage Conservation Act on July 19, 2012.[1][2] The site is part of an old lake bed which was deposited about 52 million years ago and is internationally recognised for the diversity of plant, insect, and fish fossils found there. Similar fossil beds in Eocene lake sediments, also known for their well preserved plant, insect and fish fossils, are found at Driftwood Canyon Provincial Park near Smithers in northern British Columbia, on the Horsefly River near Quesnel in central British Columbia, and at Republic in Washington, United States.[3] The Princeton Chert fossil beds in southern British Columbia are also Eocene, but primarily preserve an aquatic plant community.[4] A recent review of the early Eocene fossil sites from the interior of British Columbia discusses the history of paleobotanical research at McAbee, the Princeton Chert, Driftwood Canyon, and related Eocene fossil sites such as at Republic.[5]

McAbee Fossil Beds viewed from the Highway.

Heritage status sign

The McAbee Fossil Beds reopened for public viewing on June 21, 2019. The McAbee site is now under the management of the Bonaparte First Nation, who have title on the lands.CBC News

Palaeontology and Geology

Fossil plants from the same area as the McAbee fossil beds (Cache Creek and Kamloops B.C.) were first reported by G.M. Dawson.[6] Palaeontological and geological studies of the McAbee Fossil Beds are more recent, however, going back at least to research in the 1960s and early 1970s by Dr. Len Hills of the University of Calgary and his students on the fossil spores and pollen (palynology) and the leaf fossils,[7][8][9] and research on the fossil fish from the fossil beds by Dr. Mark Wilson of the University of Alberta.[3] Thomas Ewing provided a detailed analysis of the geology of the Kamloops Group, including the McAbee beds.[10] More recently, Lowe et al. have assessed in detail the site lithostratigraphy. [11] Significant research on the fossil plants and insects has only occurred since the late 1980s.[12][13][14][15][16] The McAbee Fossil Beds are best known for the abundant and well-preserved insect and fish fossils (Amyzon, Eohiodon, and Eosalmo). Eohiodon rosei from the McAbee Fossil Beds and other Eocene sites in British Columbia is now considered to belong to the present-day mooneye genus Hiodon.[17]

The climate of the McAbee Eocene lake was reconstructed to be temperate and wet, with a mean annual temperature about 11 °C (52 °F), winters lacking frost (coldest month mean temperature ~5 °C), and annual precipitation over 1,000 mm (39 in) a year with little or no seasonality of precipitation.[14][15][18][19] The extraordinary detail preserved in the insect fossils, as well as the high diversity of insects, plants and other organisms means the McAbee Fossil Beds represent a Konservat-Lagerstätten.[16]

A volcanic ash exposed in the lake shale beds was originally radiometrically dated using the K-Ar method at ~51 million years ago;[8][10] however, a recently provided radiometric date using the ⁴⁰Ar-³⁹Ar method places the McAbee Fossil Beds at 52.9 ± 0.83 million years old, placing it in the early Eocene Epoch.[20][21]

Flora

Fossil leaf of Sassafras hesperia from the McAbee Fossil Beds. Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology collection. Collected by L. Hills in 1983.

Fossils of plant leaves, shoots, seeds, flowers and cones are abundant and well preserved, and include up to 76 genera of plants.[22] Fossil plants described from the fossil beds include rare flowers such as Dipteronia, a genus of trees related to maples (Acer. spp.) that today grows in eastern Asia,[23] extinct members of the birch family (Betulaceae) such as Palaeocarpinus,[24] maple seeds (Acer rousei),[12] and fruits and leaves of a beech (Fagus langevinii)[25] and an elm (Ulmus okanaganensis).[26]

Below is an incomplete list of the plant genera found in the McAbee fossil beds based on the list found in Dillhoff, Leopold & Manchester (2005) with extinct taxa denoted with a †.[27]

plant family	genera	common name
Cupressaceae	Chamaecyparis, Cunninghamia, Metasequoia, Sequoia, Thuja	cypress, Chinese fir, dawn redwood, California redwood, red or white cedar
Ginkgoaceae	Ginkgo	ginkgo, maidenhair tree
Pinaceae	Abies,[28] Picea, Pinus, Pseudolarix,[29] Tsuga	fir, spruce, pine, golden larch, hemlock
Taxaceae	cf. Amentotaxus, cf. Torreya	catkin yew, nutmeg yew or 'torreya'
Betulaceae	Alnus, Betula, ^†Palaeocarpinus[24]	alder, birch, extinct hornbeam
Cercidiphyllaceae	^†Joffrea / Cercidiphyllum	extinct / katsura (Japan)
Cornaceae	Cornus	dogwood
Fagaceae	Fagus	beech
Grossulariaceae	Ribes	currant or gooseberry
Hamamelidaceae	^†Langeria magnifica	extinct witch hazel relative
Lauraceae	Sassafras	sassafras
Malvaceae	^†Florissantia	extinct
Myricaceae	Comptonia	sweet fern (a woody flowering shrub with fern-like leaves)
Platanaceae	^†Macginicarpa, ^†Macginitiea	extinct sycamore, plane tree
Rosaceae	Amelanchier, Crataegus, Prunus	serviceberry, hawthorn, cherry
Salicaceae	Populus	cottonwood, poplar
Sapindaceae	Acer, Aesculus, †Cruciptera,[30] Dipteronia, Koelreuteria	maple, buckeye or horse chestnut, golden rain tree
Trochodendraceae	Trochodendron,[31] ^†Zizyphoides, ^†Concavistylon wehrii[32]	wheel tree, extinct
Ulmaceae	Ulmus okanaganensis	elm
Vitaceae	Vitis	grape

Insects and other arthropods

The fossil insects are particularly diverse and well preserved, and include an extinct bulldog ant Macabeemyrma ovata,[33] a species of green lacewing (Neuroptera, Chrysopidae) (Archaeochrysa profracta), and stick insects (Phasmatodea).[21][34][35] A species of fossil freshwater crayfish (Aenigmastacus crandalli) was described from the McAbee Fossil Beds.[36] The very high diversity of fossil insects in the McAbee fossil beds is comparable to that of modern-day tropical forest areas.[37] Most recently, fossil palm beetles (Bruchidae) were described from the beds, confirming the presence of palms (Arecaceae) in the local environment in the early Eocene.[38]

Below is an incomplete list of the insect Orders, superfamilies and families, and genera found in the McAbee Fossil Beds based on information in Archibald, Bossert, Greenwood, and Farrell (2010),[21] Archibald, Mathewes, and Greenwood (2013), Archibald, Rasnitsyn and Akhmetiev (2005)[39] and other sources cited in the list below, with extinct taxa denoted with a †.

Arthropod order	Super family/family	Genus/Species	Authors	Notes	Images
Ephemeroptera
Odonata	Aeshnidae			Darners (dragonflies)
Odonata	Megapodagrionidae			Flatwing damselflies
Blattodea	Blaberidae			blaberid cockroaches
Isoptera	Hodotermitidae			harvester termites
Dermaptera				earwigs
Orthoptera	Prophalangopsidae			Grigs
Orthoptera	Tettigoniidae			katydids
Hemiptera	Aphididae			aphids
Hemiptera	Cicadellidae			leaf hoppers
Hemiptera	Cercopoidea			spittlebugs
Neuroptera	Chrysopidae	†Protochrysa		Green lacewings
Neuroptera	Chrysopidae	†Okanaganochrysa		Green lacewings
Neuroptera	Chrysopidae	†Adamsochrysa		Green lacewings
Neuroptera	Chrysopidae	†Archaeochrysa		Green lacewings
Neuroptera	Hemerobiidae			brown lacewings
Neuroptera	Osmylidae			osmylid lacewings
Coleoptera	Cupedidae			reticulated beetles
Coleoptera	cf. Cantharidae			soldier beetles
Coleoptera	Cerambycidae			long horned beetles
Coleoptera	Chrysomelidae			leaf beetles
Coleoptera	Curculionidae			weevils, snout beetles
Coleoptera	cf. Elateridae			click beetles
Coleoptera	Mordellidae			tumbling flower beetles
Mecoptera	Bittacidae			hangingflies
Mecoptera	†Cimbrophlebiidae	†Cimbrophlebia		extinct group
Mecoptera	Panorpidae	Panorpa		panorpid scorpionflies
Mecoptera	†Dinopanorpidae	†Dinokanaga		extinct family
Mecoptera	†Holcorpidae	†Holcorpa		extinct family
Mecoptera	†Eorpidae	†Eorpa		extinct family
Mecoptera	Eomeropidae	†Eomerope		eomeropid mecopterans
Diptera	Bibionidae	Plecia		March flies
Diptera	Cylindrotomidae			long-bodied crane flies
Diptera	Limoniidae			limoniid crane flies
Diptera	Mycetophilidae			fungus gnats
Diptera	Tipulidae			crane flies
Diptera	Trichoceridae			winter crane flies
Diptera	Syrphidae			flower flies, hover flies
Trichoptera				caddisflies
Hymenoptera	Braconidae			braconid wasps
Hymenoptera	Cephidae	†Cuspilongus cachecreekensis[40]	Archibald & Rasnitsyn, 2015	Sawfly
Hymenoptera	Cimbicidae			cimbicid wasps
Hymenoptera	Diapriidae			diapriid wasps
Hymenoptera	Figitidae			figitid wasps
Hymenoptera	Formicidae	†Avitomyrmex elongatus[41]	Archibald, Cover, & Moreau, 2006	bulldog ants
Hymenoptera	Formicidae	†Avitomyrmex mastax[41]	Archibald, Cover, & Moreau, 2006	bulldog ants
Hymenoptera	Formicidae	†Avitomyrmex systenus[41]	Archibald, Cover, & Moreau, 2006	bulldog ants
Hymenoptera	Formicidae	†Macabeemyrma ovata[41]	Archibald, Cover, & Moreau, 2006	bulldog ants
Hymenoptera	Formicidae	†Ypresiomyrma bartletti[41]	Archibald, Cover, & Moreau, 2006	bulldog ants
Hymenoptera	Formicidae	†Ypresiomyrma orbiculata[41]	Archibald, Cover, & Moreau, 2006	bulldog ants
Hymenoptera	Formicidae	†Myrmeciites(?) goliath[41]	Archibald, Cover, & Moreau, 2006	bulldog ant form taxon
Hymenoptera	Formicidae	†Myrmeciites herculeanus[41]	Archibald, Cover, & Moreau, 2006	bulldog ant form taxon
Hymenoptera	Ichneumonidae			ichneumon wasps
Hymenoptera	Proctotrupidae			proctotrupid wasps
Hymenoptera	Siricidae	†Ypresiosirex orthosemos[40]	Archibald & Rasnitsyn, 2015	horntail wasps
Hymenoptera	Sphecidae			Sphecid wasps
Hymenoptera	Tenthredinidae			tenthredinid wasps
Hymenoptera	Vespidae			hornets
Phasmatodea	†Susumanioidea			stick insects

Collections and collecting status

Small collections of fossils are housed in the Royal BC Museum in Victoria BC, the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology in Drumheller Alberta, the Royal Ontario Museum, the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa, the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture in Seattle, WA, and other university collections, principally Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, B.C., and Brandon University in Manitoba. Significant collections of fossils from the McAbee Fossil Beds were in private ownership and fossils from the McAbee Fossil Beds are listed for sale on the internet. [22] However, in August 2018 a substantial private collection of fossils from McAbee was donated to the Royal British Columbia Museum.

The cessation of fossil collecting at the McAbee Fossil Beds through heritage listing is consistent with British Columbia's new Fossil Management Framework[42] which seeks to:

• clarify the rules governing the management and use of fossils;
• manage impacts on fossils from other activities;
• provide for the stewardship of significant fossil sites;
• raise internal and external awareness of the framework and the importance of fossils;
• build knowledge of the nature and extent of the resource in BC; and
• clarify the rights and obligations of the public, business, government and other stakeholders.

References

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2. McAbee Fossil Beds Heritage Site. Canadian Register of Historic Places. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
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4. Cevallos-Ferriz, SRS; Stockey, RA; Pigg, KB (1991). "Princeton chert: evidence for in situ aquatic plants". Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology. 70 (1–2): 173–185. doi:10.1016/0034-6667(91)90085-H.
5. Greenwood, D.R.; Pigg, K.B.; Basinger, J.F.; DeVore, M.L. (2016). "A review of paleobotanical studies of the Early Eocene Okanagan (Okanogan) Highlands floras of British Columbia, Canada and Washington, USA". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 53 (6): 548–564. doi:10.1139/cjes-2015-0177.
6. Dawson, G.M. (1877). "Report on explorations in the southern portion of British Columbia." Geological Survey of. Canada, Report of Progress for 1875–76, pp. 233–265.
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19. Gushulak, C.A.; West, C.K.; Greenwood, D.R. (2016). "Paleoclimate and precipitation seasonality of the Early Eocene McAbee megaflora, Kamloops Group, British Columbia". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 53 (6): 591–604. doi:10.1139/cjes-2015-0160. hdl:1807/71959.
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24. Pigg, K.B.; Manchester, S.R.; Wehr, W.C. (2003). "Corylus, Carpinus, and Palaeocarpinus (Betulaceae) from the Middle Eocene Klondike Mountain and Allenby Formations of Northwestern North America". International Journal of Plant Sciences. 164 (5): 807–822. doi:10.1086/376816.
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26. Denk, T.; Dillhoff, R.M. (2005). "Ulmus leaves and fruits from the Early-Middle Eocene of northwestern North America: systematics and implications for character evolution within Ulmaceae". Canadian Journal of Botany. 83 (12): 1663–1681. doi:10.1139/b05-122.
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33. Archibald, S.B.; Cover, S. P.; Moreau, C. S. (2006). "Bulldog Ants of the Eocene Okanagan Highlands and History of the Subfamily (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmeciinae)". Annals of the Entomological Society of America. 99 (3): 487–523. doi:10.1603/0013-8746(2006)99[487:BAOTEO]2.0.CO;2.
34. Makarkin, V.N.; Archibald, S.B. (2013). "A diverse new assemblage of green lacewings (Insecta, Neuroptera, Chrysopidae) from the early Eocene Okanagan Highlands, western North America". Journal of Paleontology. 87: 123–146. doi:10.1666/12-052R.1.
35. Archibald, SB; Bradler, S (2015). "Stem-group stick insects (Phasmatodea) in the early Eocene at McAbee, British Columbia, Canada, and Republic, Washington, United States of America". The Canadian Entomologist. 147 (6): 744–753. doi:10.4039/tce.2015.2.
36. Feldmann, R.A.; Schweitzer, C.E.; Leahy, J. (2011). "New Eocene crayfish from the McAbee Beds in British Columbia: First record of Parastacoidea in the Northern Hemisphere". Journal of Crustacean Biology. 31 (2): 320–331. doi:10.1651/10-3399.1.
37. Archibald, S.B.; Greenwood, D.R.; Mathewes, R.W. (2013). "Seasonality, montane beta diversity, and Eocene insects: Testing Janzen's dispersal hypothesis in an equable world". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 371: 1–8. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2012.10.043.
38. Archibald, S.B.; Morse, G.; Greenwood, D.R.; Mathewes, R.W. (2014). "Fossil palm beetles refine upland winter temperatures in the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 111 (22): 8095–8100. doi:10.1073/pnas.1323269111. PMC 4050627. PMID 24821798.
39. Archibald, S.B.; Rasnitsyn, A.P.; Akhmetiev, M.A. (2005). "The ecology and distribution of Cenozoic Eomeropidae (Mecoptera), and a new species of Eomerope Cockerell from the Early Eocene McAbee locality, British Columbia, Canada". Annals of the Entomological Society of America. 98 (4): 503–514. doi:10.1603/0013-8746(2005)098[0503:EADOCE]2.0.CO;2.
40. Archibald, S.B.; Rasnitsyn, A.P. (2015). "New early Eocene Siricomorpha (Hymenoptera: Symphyta: Pamphiliidae, Siricidae, Cephidae) from the Okanagan Highlands, western North America". The Canadian Entomologist. 148 (2): 209–228. doi:10.4039/tce.2015.55.
41. Archibald, S.B.; Cover, S. P.; Moreau, C. S. (2006). "Bulldog Ants of the Eocene Okanagan Highlands and History of the Subfamily (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmeciinae)" (PDF). Annals of the Entomological Society of America. 99 (3): 487–523. doi:10.1603/0013-8746(2006)99[487:BAOTEO]2.0.CO;2.
42. Fossil Management Framework. http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/topic.page?id=581E56736871492E80229C27F1662222 (accessed May 4, 2015)