VERTEBRATE TRACK-BEARING FORMATIONS
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WESTERN VERTEBRATE ICHNOLOGY
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The first written records
of fossil
footprint discoveries in western Canada are from the early part of the
twentieth century (pre-1930's). These finds came from a variety of
formations in both Alberta and British Columbia ranging from the Early
Cretaceous to the Late Paleocene. The known fossil track record of
western Canada now ranges in age from the Late Jurassic (Tithonian
stage) to the Holocene.
Although there are substantial omissions in the Tertiary the ichnological record of vertebrates in western Canada is quite reliable and fills the gaps left by the incomplete skeletal record which is concentrated towards the end of the Upper Cretaceous and into the Tertiary. Almost every terrestrial deposit that has been investigated for footprint finds has yielded positive results. There are many regions in western Canada that have not been looked at for footprints and so the opportunities for future finds are quite good. The ways in which footprint sites are found are almost as varied as the footprints themselves. Many of the track finds in western Canada were not made by palaeontologists. Just about anyone is capable of finding a new tracksite, including children, adults, coal-miners, loggers, road-workers, hunters, etc. |
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