Late Pleistocene age, size, and paleoenvironment of a caribou antler from Haida Gwaii, British Columbia

2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (6) ◽  
pp. 688-692 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rolf W. Mathewes ◽  
Michael Richards ◽  
Thomas E. Reimchen
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Vegetation Cover ◽  
Coniferous Forest ◽  
Bone Collagen ◽  
Haida Gwaii ◽  
Terrestrial Vertebrates ◽  
Mis 3 ◽  
Basal Portion ◽  
Marine Isotope Stage 3

The basal portion of a fossil caribou antler from Graham Island is the only evidence of large terrestrial vertebrates older than the Fraser (late-Wisconsin) glaciation on Haida Gwaii. This antler has been radiocarbon dated three times by different laboratories and all ages fall within the mid-Wisconsin Olympia Interglaciation (Marine Isotope Stage 3, MIS 3). We suggest that the latest date, using ultrafiltration of bone collagen, is closest to the true age at 43 200 ± 650 years BP (48 200 – 45 200 cal BP). Previous paleoecological analysis from Graham Island reconstructed a vegetation cover during MIS 3 consisting of mixed coniferous forest with nonforested openings, similar to cool subalpine forests of today. These conditions are consistent with environments that support woodland caribou and the related extinct Dawson caribou. Morphometric comparison of antlers from woodland and Dawson caribou suggest that they are more similar than previously interpreted and raise questions about the inferred differences between the mainland and island subspecies.

AMS-dated late Pleistocene taiga vole (Rodentia: Microtus xanthognathus) from northeast British Columbia, Canada: a cautionary lesson in chronologyThis article is one of a selection of papers published in this Special Issue on the theme Geology of northeastern British Columbia and northwestern Alberta: diamonds, shallow gas, gravel, and glaciers.

2008 ◽  
Vol 45 (5) ◽  
pp. 611-618 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard J. Hebda ◽  
James A. Burns ◽  
Marten Geertsema ◽  
A. J. Timothy Jull
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Bone Collagen ◽  
Laurentide Ice Sheet ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Cautionary Note ◽  
Shallow Gas ◽  
Peace River ◽  
Elusive Species ◽  
Selection Of

Dissected colluvial sediments on a Peace River terrace at Bear Flat, northeast British Columbia enclosed a late Pleistocene micromammalian faunule. The fossil remains, including a few loosely articulated skulls and mandibles, were dominated by taiga voles ( Microtus xanthognathus ). The Bear Flat site constitutes the second fossil occurrence in the region of this elusive species, which is unknown in British Columbia in historic times. The late Pleistocene age, determined by accelerator mass spectrometry directly on taiga vole bone collagen, is consistent with the ages of widespread taiga vole records peripheral to the Laurentide ice sheet in western, mid-western, and eastern North America. The presence of allo-chronous remains within a comprehensively dated sedimentary sequence provides a cautionary note about straightforward acceptance of relative stratigraphic dating.

Paleoecological and climatic implications of stable isotope results from late Pleistocene bone collagen, Ziegeleigrube Coenen, Germany

2015 ◽  
Vol 84 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Wißing ◽  
Simon Matzerath ◽  
Elaine Turner ◽  
Hervé Bocherens
Keyword(s):  
Central Europe ◽  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Mammalian Species ◽  
Bone Collagen ◽  
Ecological Niches ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Cold Event ◽  
Mis 3 ◽  
The Impact

Climatic and ecological conditions during Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage (MIS) 3 are complex and the impact of cold spells on the ecosystems in Central Europe still needs to be investigated thoroughly. Ziegeleigrube Coenen (ZC) is a late Pleistocene MIS 3 locality in the Lower Rhine Embayment of Germany, radiocarbon-dated to > 34 14C ka BP. The site yielded a broad spectrum of mammal species. We investigated the carbon (δ13C), nitrogen (δ15N) and sulfur (δ34S) isotope signatures of bone collagen, since these are valuable tools in characterizing ecological niches, environmental conditions and aspects of climate and mobility. By comparison with pre- and post-Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) sites in Central Europe we show that ZC belongs in a cold event of MIS 3 and was climatically more similar to post-LGM sites than to pre-LGM sites. However, the trophic structure resembled that of typical pre-LGM sites in Belgium. This cold event in MIS 3 changed the bottom of the foodweb, but do not seem to have had a direct impact on the occurrence of the mammalian species and their ecological distribution. Apparently the (mega-) faunal community could adapt also to harsher environmental conditions during MIS 3.

Antiproliferative, Immunostimulatory, and Anti-Inflammatory Activities of Extracts Derived from Mushrooms Collected in Haida Gwaii, British Columbia (Canada)

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (7) ◽  
pp. 629-643 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gurbind S. Deo ◽  
Jatinder Khatra ◽  
Sukhpreet Buttar ◽  
Wai Ming Li ◽  
Linda E. Tackaberry ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Haida Gwaii ◽  
Anti Inflammatory

U-PB DETRITAL ZIRCON ANALYSIS OF THE QUEEN CHARLOTTE GROUP, HAIDA GWAII, BRITISH COLUMBIA

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cameron Dorsey ◽  
◽  
William A. Matthews ◽  
Bernard Guest ◽  
Stephen M. Hubbard
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Detrital Zircon ◽  
Haida Gwaii

Late Pleistocene Vegetation of Kings Canyon, Sierra Nevada, California

1983 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth Cole
Keyword(s):  
Plant Community ◽  
Sierra Nevada ◽  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Coniferous Forest ◽  
Pollen Grains ◽  
Mean Annual Precipitation ◽  
Juniperus Occidentalis ◽  
Sequoiadendron Giganteum ◽  
Western Side ◽  
Modern Sample

AbstractSeven packrat midden samples make possible a comparison between the modern and late Pleistocene vegetation in Kings Canyon on the western side of the southern Sierra Nevada. One modern sample contains macrofossils and pollen derived from the present-day oak-chaparral vegetation. Macrofossils from the six late Pleistocene samples record a mixed coniferous forest dominated by the xerophytic conifers Juniperus occidentalis, Pinus cf. ponderosa, and P. monophylla. The pollen spectra of these Pleistocene middens are dominated by Pinus sp., Taxodiaceae-Cupressaceae-Taxaceae (TCT), and Artemisia sp. Mesophytic conifers are represented by low macrofossil concentrations. Sequoiadendron giganteum is represented by a few pollen grains in the full glacial. Edaphic control and snow dispersal are the most likely causes of these mixed assemblages.The dominant macrofossils record a more xeric plant community than those that now occur on similar substrates at higher elevations or latitudes in the Sierra Nevada. These assemblages suggest that late Wisconsin climates were cold with mean annual precipitation not necessarily greater than modern values. This conclusion supports a model of low summer ablation allowing for the persistence of the glaciers at higher elevations during the late Wisconsin. The records in these middens also suggest that S. giganteum grew at lower elevations along the western side of the range and that P. monophylla was more widely distributed in cismontane California during the Pleistocene.

Collector’s Note: Amethyst from Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, Canada

2021 ◽  
Vol 96 (5) ◽  
pp. 460-463
Author(s):  
Mark Mauthner ◽  
Jack Whittles
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Haida Gwaii

Loon abundance and behaviour over four decades at a remote ecological reserve on Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, Canada

2021 ◽  
Vol 135 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-38
Author(s):  
Thomas Reimchen ◽  
Sheila Douglas
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Evolutionary Ecology ◽  
Inverse Correlation ◽  
Gavia Immer ◽  
Haida Gwaii ◽  
Average Wind Speed ◽  
The North ◽  
Common Loons ◽  
Ecological Reserve

Early studies (1976–1982) of the Drizzle Lake Ecological Reserve on Haida Gwaii, British Columbia focussed on the endemic Giant Threespine Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) and their predators. These surveys showed daily visits to the small lake (110 ha) by up to 59 adult non-breeding Common Loon (Gavia immer), an important stickleback predator and up to 19 breeding and non-breeding adult Red-throated Loon (Gavia stellata), which leave daily to forage in nearby marine waters. We continued loon surveys for 17 additional years (1983–1989, 2011–2020) and found that aggregations of non-breeding Common Loons occurred annually on the lake during July with maximum daily numbers of 78–83 individuals in 1987, 2018, and 2020 and a large increase from 2011 to 2020. We did not detect any relationship of these differences with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation but a significant inverse correlation with average wind speed. Average yearly numbers of Red-throated Loons declined by 50% from 1976 to 1989 and have remained low, with lowest numbers (<2) occurring in 2017. Two Red-throated Loon nesting territories on the lake were occupied from 1976 to 1995, with chicks occurring in 24 of 36 nests, but no successful nesting was observed on the lake over the last decade. The relative decline of Red-throated Loon in this reserve is similar to that reported in Arctic and Subarctic surveys of the species in the north Pacific and northern Europe. We discuss the implications for the evolutionary ecology of the sticklebacks and the conservation of the ecological reserve.

scholarly journals The Late Pleistocene faunal assemblage from Cava Muracci (Latium, Italy): Palaeoenvironmental implications for coastal central Italy during MIS 3

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maurizio Gatta ◽  
Tassos Kotsakis ◽  
Luca Pandolfi ◽  
Carmelo Petronio ◽  
Leonardo Salari ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Faunal Assemblage ◽  
Mis 3

Preliminary investigation of a late Wisconsinan fauna from K1 cave, Queen Charlotte Islands (Haida Gwaii), Canada

2004 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolyn L. Ramsey ◽  
Paul A. Griffiths ◽  
Daryl W. Fedje ◽  
Rebecca J. Wigen ◽  
Quentin Mackie
Keyword(s):  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Preliminary Investigation ◽  
Skeletal Remains ◽  
Human Migration ◽  
Early Holocene ◽  
Haida Gwaii ◽  
Queen Charlotte Islands ◽  
Late Wisconsinan ◽  
Early Human

Recent investigations of a limestone solution cave on the Queen Charlotte Islands (Haida Gwaii) have yielded skeletal remains of fauna including late Pleistocene and early Holocene bears, one specimen of which dates to ca. 14,400 14C yr B.P. This new fossil evidence sheds light on early postglacial environmental conditions in this archipelago, with implications for the timing of early human migration into the Americas.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document