We Need Help to Fund Summer Dinosaur Track Research!

Hello Dear Readers!

Regardless of the snow that is on the ground as I type, this is the time of year our planning kicks into high gear for this summer's field season. We have an exciting new dinosaur ichnology project (for new readers, ichnology is tracks, traces, and other "signs" left by dinosaurs other than their body parts), thanks to the sharp-eyed residents of the Peace Region who reported the site to us, and the guarantee that we can operate this year.

"Wait, Strange Woman - didn't you say you were office bound this summer in your last post?"

Indeed I am, friends. However, that doesn't mean I'm not hard at work ensuring the field season can happen for my Research Team. As a Museum Of Unusual Size (MOUS), we struggle every year to not only convince the Powers That Be that our institution (the Peace Region Palaeontology Research Centre) is a worthy project for conserving, archiving, researching, and interpreting British Columbia's fossil heritage, we have to justify WHY research should be funded. We have no access to research funding through provincial or federal means. We always approach the natural resource companies operating in the region for potential partnerships, and are usually given the same rebuff: "Our head office decides funding levels based on population size. You live in a small population center. You will get a small amount." Trying to convince them that this project is regional and provincial in scale does not make an impression.

This year we're trying something different. Two days ago I launched an Indiegogo campaign to crowd fund the research for our Williston Lake Tracksite (link to the "Research Dinosaur Tracks in Northeast BC, Canada!" campaign site here.)

There's good background information on the campaign page, but I'll also provide a summary here.

The new Williston Lake Tracksite is a large, flat exposure of the Gething Formation (Early Cretaceous, approximately 115 million years old). Dinosaurs in BC - and specifically dinosaur footprints - have a long, but little known history in the province. Tthe cultural history of many British Columbia residents of European descent (there may be First Nations historical recognition for the tracks - still hunting out info) has long assumed that "there are no dinosaurs in BC, they're found in Alberta" - I heard this so often growing up in BC that I wanted to scream. However, dinosaur prints were first found in northeast BC by geologist F. H. McLearn in 1922-23. Paleontologist Charles M. Sternberg led the first paleontology expedition to the Peace Region in 1930.

C. M. Sternberg named many new ichnotaxa (footprint types) from the Peace River Canyon Gething Formation sites in 1932 and on. This was the first extensively published description of Cretaceous tracks as a footprint community (ichnofauna). Several ichnotaxa were named:

Amblydactylus gethingi - here's a footprint and handprint pair from a different tracksite, not the original Sternberg locality.  Amblydactylus is thought to be made by a dinosaur related to Iguanodon.

Medium-sized herbivorous dinosaur print Gypsichnites pacensis (image not Sternberg's original site):

The small theropod footprint Irenichnites gracilis. This specimen is not from the original Sternberg localities:

Medium-sized theropod footprint Columbosauripus ungulatus (image not from Sternberg's sites):

Large-sized (and likely allosaurid) theropod prints Irenesauripus (from Sternberg 1932):

Last, but certainly not least, the ankylosaur footprints of Tetrapodosaurus borealis (image not from the Sternberg localities, but from our Flatbed Creek Trackway Tour site):

Later, Currie (1981) named what was, at the time, the oldest bird footprints known, and the second
bird footprints named from North America: Aquatilavipes swiboldae.

From Currie (1981).

There are two things I'm sure you have noticed by now:
1. The Peace River Canyon tracksites are important. Several type specimens come from there, and they are an important part of not only British Columbia's history, but the history of paleontology. The Province of British Columbia agreed, and in 1930 the Peace River Canyon site was designated as a Provincial Heritage Resource. Cool, right?
2. Most of the images are not from the original Peace River Canyon localities. Why? The Peace River Canyon localities, a Provincial Heritage Resource, are now flooded under the "Dinosaur Lake" reservoir of the Peace Canyon Dam. Despite a huge salvage effort by the Provincial Museum of Alberta (now the Royal Alberta Museum), led by paleontologist Dr. Philip Currie between 1976-1979 that recovered over 90 footprints, mapped 1000 prints, and in total documented 1700 prints, the sites and the in-place tracks were lost to future science, science outreach, and tourism opportunities.

This new site, the Williston Lake Tracksite, is the first large-scale track-bearing surface from the Gething Formation that has been seen since the flooding of the Peace River Canyon. We have this fantastic opportunity to continue Sternberg's and Currie's work.

First, we simply need to documenting the site. It won't really be simple: there's A LOT of site to be cleared (in yellow):

We need to map all of the footprints in place as they appear on the surface. We need to take latex and silicone molds of significant footprints and trackways. We also need to 3D-digitize the ENTIRE site.

We can take an entire tracksite back to the lab with us in 3D-digital replica format. Image from McCrea et al. (2014b).

Why do we need to do this?

We need to know a) what track types are there, b) what proportion each track type is in this slice of the paleo-ecosystem, and c) update or revise Sternberg's footprint identifications (as needed) with our advanced understanding of how footprints work - Sternberg did a great job in 1932, but our understanding of footprints has increased and changed a lot since then, and since the original Sternberg sites are inaccessible, we have this golden opportunity to research a site that is as close to what Sternberg saw as possible.

We can't miss this scientific opportunity. This is why we need your help. Some of the tracks are exposed, and we know from experience that the longer tracks are exposed, the more likely they are to be damaged by weathering (slow) and human selfishness (fast). We need to get in, uncover, document, and securely cover the site this summer. To do this safely and efficiently we need to replace our old equipment (truck, all-terrain vehicle) and pick up a new item: a secure cargo trailer in which we can store gear (we've had all of our sites robbed) and store specimens. We also need to feed our crew of staff and volunteers.

Once this site is documented, we hope that it can one day be used as a science-based tourism initiative. Our research this summer will be the basis for all of the exciting stories we'll discover about Early Cretaceous dinosaurs. We want to bring the Peace River Canyon tracks from their watery obscurity, if only by proxy, and tell their story to the world.

You can help us tell that story. The most important way you can help is to share the "Research Dinosaur Tracks in Northeast BC, Canada!" site with anyone interested in history, heritage, dinosaurs, and science education. If you have the means, we would greatly appreciate any contributions.

I know we can do this.


References

Currie PJ. 1981. Bird footprints from the Gething Formation (Aptian, Lower Cretaceous) of northeastern British Columbia, Canada. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 1(3-4):257-264.

McCrea RT, Buckley LG, Plint AG, Currie PJ, Haggart JW, Helm CW, Pemberton SG. 2014a. A review of vertebrate track-bearing formations from the Mesozoic and earliest Cenozoic of western Canada, with a description of a new theropod ichnospecies and reassignment of an avian ichnospecies. New Mexico Museum of Natural History Bulletin 62: 5-94.

McCrea RT, Buckley LG, Farlow JO, Lockley MG, Currie PJ, et al. 2014b. A ‘Terror of Tyrannosaurs’: The First Trackways of Tyrannosaurids and Evidence of Gregariousness and Pathology in Tyrannosauridae. PLoS ONE 9(7): e103613. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0103613

Sternberg CM. 1932. Dinosaur tracks from Peace River, British Columbia. National Museum of Canada Bulletin 68:59-85

Strange Woman Abroad: Turkmenistan - Koytendag Track Site

[Continued from Grotto of Forty Girls]

After our return from the Grotto and a refreshment break we board the PaintMixer and head to the Koytendag Track Site. The prospector in me could not help but assess the logistics for extended field activities in the region. The valley we drive into is comparatively lush and green, with a readily available water source of a small creek. It is also home to a small village, complete with livestock. Throw in an army tent as a base camp stocked with supplies, the use of a reliable 4WD (or pack animals for a lowered carbon footprint), a local guide and/or interpreter, and add a band of Turkmenistan geology-biology university researchers and students to the palaeontologists and geologists and we would have a fully functioning field expedition. While I appreciate a hot shower and a mattress, give me a tent, a functioning Coleman stove, and a supply of Earl Grey tea and I'll function pretty much anywhere.

A nice vertical surface, just waiting to have dinosaur tracks found on it!

We are greeted by another traditional dance performance. Each performance we've seen has been slightly different. Some focus on interactions between young men and women, some focus on young people learning skills from their elders, and some praise the resources of the region and resulting products: rugs, food, and clothing. 

The young ladies' part of the dance...

...the young men...

...and the married women providing advice.

We are led to the cement stairway constructed for the visit of the country's President to the track site in 2011. After the stairs we hiked a gorgeous trail lined with natural craggy limestone slabs.

Stairway and interpretive signage for the Koytendag Track Site.

The trail up to the Koytendag Track Site. Gorgeous!

The track site is a large exposure: over 25000m2 of a calcareous bedding surface dotted here and there with silty clasts contains long trackways of two ichnogenera of large and medium theropods (Megalosauripus and Therangospodus, respectively.)

Possible tracks of Therangospodus.

Possible track of Megalosauripus.

I tried to find out the names of these three gentlemen, but the language barrier got in the way. They took great effort to show me all the tracks on the surface.

Trackways are always worth getting excited over: trackways are much better than individual footprints because the information needed for describing dinosaur footprint and locomotion features comes from trackways. Individual tracks are only used if that's all you can get.

NOTE: What is an ichnotaxon? Ichnotaxonomy (the study of naming traces) is functionally the same as naming any new fossil. If you find a trackway that looks different than any other tracks described in scientific journals (the journal Ichnos is dedicated to publishing research on traces of anything and everything, from worms to humans), it can be given a unique name. To distinguish a trace name from a physical organism name, the prefix “ichno” is used. So, a new species of dinosaur footprint is not a species but an ichnospecies. New ichnogeneric and ichnospecific names have to be erected following the rules of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. Describing a new ichnotaxon from a single footprint is the equivalent of trying to describe a completely new dinosaur from a single bone: it can be done, but you would never stop hoping for the recovery of the rest of the skeleton, and you have to be VERY careful that you’ve examined all other possible explanations for that funky new shape (preservation, age of the animal, ground consistency, non-biologic sources, invertebrate sources, etc.). Back to the journal entry.

The track site was mostly exposed (also for the President's visit), and Federico, the lead researcher on the recent Koytendag palaeontology research, had noticed significant surface erosion even in the short time the new tracks had been exposed. [NOTE: Erosion is the only constant when working with outdoor tracks. You can do a great deal to slow down the rate of erosion of exposed surfaces, but eventually their detail will fade. That’s why detailed documentation of track sites is so important: you can’t save everything.] There is a strip of track site that is still covered with debris, and here is where we find the most pristine of the trackways of Megalosauripus.

Nicely impressed track of ?Megalosauripus from the covered portion of the track surface.

Natural erosion has not been the only enemy of the track site: anthropogenic signs of degradation are scrawled on several areas and even within the margins of a few tracks. No country is immune to this phenomenon. So-and-so loves some person, Buddy was here, and political statements usually make up the bulk of the graffiti: much like erosion, peoples' ignorance will always be a constant on which you can rely. The same degradation defaces track sites in northeast BC, and I’m sure my American and European colleagues can cite similar examples.

A great effort was taken to remove the spray paint from the Koytendag track surface.

Track surface in northeast British Columbia. The message here is quite obvious.

The track site is where interviews start in earnest. The interview style is different from that to which I am familiar. Rather than provide sound bites to a series of questions, I deliver a monologue-style statement on what I feel is the significance of the track site. This is likely due to the need for translation. I am also reminded that I should thank the President and the government for the opportunity to visit the site. I learn through the week this is policy for anyone doing government-related work. I would have done this anyway, as government support for research is something I can get behind.

We spend a few hours at the track site. The site is interesting in of itself, but it also represents the potential for new track site discoveries in the region. Any exposure of this Upper Jurassic deposit should be explored. The rate at which the surface is naturally eroding begs that new sites be found and documented.

All the Expedition members eventually drift down to the reception area at the base of the stairs to the waiting yurt-style tents where lunch was served. This is where my mental capacity begins to drift. I am decidedly not feeling well at this point. I stare at a pear I attempting to eat as though it is the most riveting object on the planet. Don't get me wrong: it was a nice juicy pear, but no piece of fruit should be more interesting than conversations with people who have done international field work. Chris from RSPB is telling a fascinating story about their society’s work in public education on poaching, and he notices my attention wandering to my pear. He jokes about how interesting the local fruits are, and I have to laugh and confess my internal unease. He understands: I’m sure I’m not the first or the last to fall victim to a traveler’s bug.

OK, Dear Readers: this is where you have input on the content of the next post in this series. I promised in my first post that I would keep the TMI content to a bare minimum, and that is a promise I intend to honor. However, the humor potential for the next series of events is high due to the...how shall I say this...embarrassing nature of my developing ailments at this point in the story. Your choice is this:

A) Oh Strange Woman, we don’t need to know that your insides were struck with the majestic force of a foreign unicellular invader. Just skip that part and go on to describing the cool sites!

B) If you can tell it without graphic clinical details, fire away! Thinly veiled hints are more amusing than spelling it out for us. The best humor is subtle.

Which will it be? Cast your votes in the comments section!

Until next time!
Strange Woman.

UPDATE 24-05-2013: Fixed some formatting issues. Oh, and given that the "Privy Bush" turned out to be one of the most viewed posts (#4 of all time to date), I have to say that knowing readers enjoy this brand of what could be considered off-key humor warms my heart. You're all awesome! I drink a toast of Earl Grey to you!

On a serious science note, Federico Fanti and his colleagues have a paper out in the latest issue of the journal Ichnos entitled "Data on two large dinosaur tracksites from the Upper Jurassic of Eastern Turkmenistan (Central Asia). The citation is below, and follow the link here to the page that has a preview of the article (pay-walled, unfortunately.)

Fanti, Contessi, Nigarov, Esenov, 2013. Data on Two Large Dinosaur Tracksites from the Upper Jurassic of Eastern Turkmenistan (Central Asia). Ichnos 20, 54-71.

"In An Undisclosed Location, An Unspecified Distance From Tumbler Ridge"

I was driving back from our bush camp last night, and heard the news of the Grande Prairie hadrosaur excavation vandalism on the radio (we're out of cell and internet contact at the site, so this was the first time I had heard about the incident). My initial emotional response was "Oh, for @*$@'s sake!", and when I heard about the liquor store receipt that may eventually lead to the identification of these primitive screwheads, I though "Typical". Drunken idiots and vandals (destructive and graffiti alike) are the reason we as a society cannot have nice things.

"An undisclosed location, an unspecified distance away from Tumbler Ridge". I often use this line when talking with media, funding agencies, politicians, and the general public when they ask the inevitable question about the location of the PRPRC's hadrosaur (duck-billed dinosaur) excavation. If I am feeling exceptionally wicked, I will also say "If I tell you that, I'd have no choice but to kill you." The recipient of either response usually reacts with an initial stunned and confused look, and then with laughter. To dispel the notion that I'm just being cute and coy with them, I then explain that, sadly, secrecy is the best protection for fossil sites, and even the best concealed, best cared-for localities are not immune to anthropogenic degradation (a.k.a. idiots with no deeper appreciation for heritage and culture). I wish that I had only hypothetical examples on which to draw when illustrating the importance of site security, but unfortunately I can now add the Grande Prairie incident as another too-close-to-home-for-comfort example.

Some people become insulted when I do not reveal the locations of our fossil sites. I understand that no one wants to feel like they are not trusted, but fossil vandalism and theft are as rampant in the Peace Region as they are in any other part of the world, and until I develop psychic abilities I cannot guess the motive behind the requests from the general public for locality data. I am sure 99% of the people ask out of interest and curiosity, but we have had the less than subtle ask for locations with commercial ventures in mind. At this point in time British Columbia does not have protective legislation for fossils on Crown lands, although there is a Fossil Management Framework that suggests management guidelines for fossil resource use and lists the existing legislation that can be used to protect fossil sites. These all require an oftentimes lengthy application process. As a palaeontologist I view one of my roles as "The Voice of the Fossils," and it is my view that it is in the best interest of fossils on the Crown Lands of British Columbia to have wholesale protective legislation that is specific to fossil resources. However, even protective legislation does not stop the kind of heritage destruction that occurred in Grande Prairie. What it does provide is the means for a legal investigation of the destruction, and the prosecution of the people involved.

These people do not even stop to consider that what they are damaging is a non-renewable resource. There is no bulk bin of dinosaur bones at the local warehouse store where we can get a replacement if a fossil is damaged or destroyed. Even in the apparent ossuary cornucopia of Dinosaur Provincial Park fossils are not easy to come by: it takes many man-hours of prospecting to find complete or partially complete skeletons. These animals are an irreplaceable record of an ecosystem that rose, flourished, and declined millions of years ago. Every fossil is a unique page in the only existing copy of the ecosystem-book: damaging or destroying a fossil is the equivalent of ripping out pages from the book. You've permanently lost both scientific information and educational opportunities.

There are several types of anthropogenic degradation that I have encountered in various local and international sites. 2005 saw the theft of the Tumbler Ridge Museum Foundation's "signature" theropod footprint from the Wolverine River Lantern Tour Site. The specimen was eventually turned over to the RCMP who promptly deposited it in the PRPRC Collections Facility, but the damage had been done: several other footprints were destroyed in the removal of the specimen, and the specimen itself bears permanent chisel and pry-bar gouges from the thief's activity. There are other track sites in the Peace Region that bear spray-painted messages of "I Love So-And-So" and "Evolution = Lie". (I will later provide images of this vandalism, but right now my internet access is limited and I am having issues uploading photos.) There are also cases where people, well-intentioned or not, try to make their own copies of footprints using very outdated and damaging techniques. I cannot stress enough how damaging this is to footprints, and the prints at the Cabin Pool-Flatbed site are becoming so damaged that we are considering their removal for their protection. This is a case of the selfish few ruining the visitation experience of the general dinosaur-interested public.

One criticism that I hear regarding site protection is "Why don't you hire security for the sites?" or "Why not set up webcams to monitor the sites?" I think that people either a) overestimate the amount of resources paleontologists have to devote to field activities in the first place, let alone site-specific security, or b) people underestimate the logistical difficulty of monitoring a remote location. Sometimes the sheer difficulty of accessing a site it protection enough, but it is difficult to monitor (electronically or physically) an easy-to-access location without also attracting attention to said location. If you see cameras and various electronic equipment established near a seemingly inconspicuous bit of outcrop, you are sure as heck going to investigate further. As for security personnel patrolling a patch of bush and rock, I could not think of a better way to proclaim "Something important here", save publishing the GPS coordinates in the local paper. "Out of site, out of mind" is the best approach for site security. Usually it works, but in the event it fails I want the ability to use whatever legal means necessary to charge and prosecute the perpetrators. I hope we soon hear that the Grande Prairie perpetrators are caught and given the highest penalty possible. The more examples that are made of these morons, the better.

The optimist in me hopes for the day that we do not have to worry about loutish individuals looting and damaging irreplaceable heritage sites, but the cynic in me knows that as long as there are people, there will be those that either believe they are above the law and general ethics, or are too dense to realize that their actions have permanent consequences.

This is the Shaman signing off and heading back out to an undisclosed location in the bush an unspecified distance from Tumbler Ridge. If I told you where, I'd have to kill you.