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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><a name="OLE_LINK1"><strong><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif"">October 14, 2015 - Celebrating National Fossil Day in North America<o:p></o:p></span></strong></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><strong><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;text-autospace:none">
<strong><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif"">Royal BC Museum’s paleontology team
<o:p></o:p></span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;text-autospace:none">
<strong><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif"">publishes five articles and award-winning research<o:p></o:p></span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><strong><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif";font-weight:normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><strong><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif"">VICTORIA, BC
</span></strong><strong><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif";font-weight:normal">– Hikers along BC’s West Coast are used to seeing sea lions offshore, Black-tailed deer threading through the forest and the
odd black bear lumbering past. But 25-30 million years ago, when climate and landscapes were very different from today, one might’ve seen large mammals named
<i>Behemotops proteus</i> munching sea grasses along the coastal shorelines. <o:p>
</o:p></span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><strong><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif";font-weight:normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><strong><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif";font-weight:normal">Thanks to the work of staff and research associates at the Royal BC Museum, discoveries and
analyses of specimens like <i>Behemotops </i>are<i> </i>helping advance our understanding of what BC looked like millions of years ago. Dr Tom Cockburn, a Research Associate at the Royal BC Museum, recently published an
</span></strong><a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02724634.2015.979939"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif"">article</span></a><strong><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif";font-weight:normal">
in</span></strong><span lang="EN-GB"> </span><strong><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif";font-weight:normal">the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology with Dr Brian Beatty (NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine),</span></strong><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif"">
that explored the details of the ancient <i>Behemotops </i>animal and its coastal distributions.
<strong><span style="font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif";font-weight:normal"> The BC specimen is important because of the rarity of intact vertebrate fossils and the novelty of the animal itself.<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><strong><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif";font-weight:normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><strong><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif";font-weight:normal">“With such strong collections, the fossils at the Royal BC Museum form an integral part of research
into our ancient past,” said Royal BC Museum CEO Prof Jack Lohman. “What we are finding is that the study of fossils is opening up important clues to understanding climate change, extinction and providing context for the changes we are making to our own environment.”<o:p></o:p></span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><strong><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif";font-weight:normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><strong><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif";font-weight:normal">Some of the most ground breaking research from the fossils collection has been generating national
interest and accolades. Marji Johns, Paleontology Collection Manager at the Royal BC Museum, was lead author of a recent
</span></strong><a href="http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/cjes-2014-0159#.VhQJjY7F_Pw"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif"">article</span></a><strong><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif";font-weight:normal">
that the </span></strong><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif"">Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences<strong><span style="font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif";font-weight:normal"> lauded as an Editor’s
Choice paper. </span></strong>Johns’ paper took a multidisciplinary approach, resulting in refined geological ages based on microscopic fossils and revelations about how Queen Charlotte Sound, Hecate Strait, and offshore Vancouver Island were formed.</span><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif"">The Royal BC Museum has also been recognized in paleontological circles because of its professional support.
</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif"">A recent
</span><a href="http://www.nhm.org/site/sites/default/files/pdf/contrib_science/CS_523.37-65.pdf"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif"">article</span></a><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif"">
in Contributions in Science (Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County) focuses on two new species,
<i>Tessarolax bullardi</i> and <i>Tessarolax grahami</i>. These were named after Royal BC Museum Research Associate Timon Bullard and Research Volunteer Raymond Graham, who found and prepared the (approximately) 85 million-year-old specimens and encouraged
the initial research.<i> Tessarolax</i> is an ornate gastropod (snail) with very long spine-like projections.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif"">Just this summer a
<i>Heptodon</i> (tapir) specimen, referred to in a recent </span><a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02724634.2014.838175"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif"">article</span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif"">
in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, arrived at the Royal BC Museum collections. The tapir lived near a lake shoreline in the BC interior about 50–55 million years ago when climate was much hotter than today. This is a very rare specimen – a first for
BC. It has not yet been confirmed as a new species, as additional specimens are needed for a species designation. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt;text-autospace:none"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif"">Earlier this summer, Carl Jonsson (Royal BC Museum student researcher, University of Victoria M.Sc.
program) and Dr Richard Hebda (Curator, Botany & Earth History) published </span>
<a href="http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/cjes-2014-0180#.VhfZY47F_Pw"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif"">new results</span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif"">
on Late Cretaceous floras in the Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. They demonstrated that distinct and unique plants lived in floodplains and wetlands of the southern Vancouver Island region when climate was warmer and wetter than today.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif"">The breadth and depth of the Royal BC Museum’s natural and human history collections are matched by the ambition of researchers
looking for new specimens or making new discoveries. Members of the public can learn more about fossils though our behind-the-scenes tours (offered free to members or with admission) or through our paleontology webpage:
</span><a href="http://royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/nh-collections/fossils-palaeontology/"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif"">http://royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/nh-collections/fossils-palaeontology/</span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif"">.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif""><br>
<a name="OLE_LINK5"></a><a name="OLE_LINK12"><b>About the Royal BC Museum</b></a></span><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="xbodytext" style="margin-top:.1pt;background:white"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif"">The Royal BC Museum explores the province’s human history and natural history, advances new knowledge and understanding of
BC, and provides a dynamic forum for discussion and a place for reflection. The museum and archives celebrate culture and history, telling the stories of BC in ways that enlighten, stimulate and inspire. Looking to the future, the Royal BC Museum will be a
refreshed, modern museum, extending its reach far beyond Victoria as a world-class cultural venue and repository of digital treasures.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="xbodytext" style="margin-top:.1pt;background:white"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;background:white"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif"">- 30 -<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif"">Media contact:</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif""><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif"">Royal BC Museum Media Inquiries
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif"">250-387-5051<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><a href="mailto:news@royalbcmuseum.bc.ca"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif"">news@royalbcmuseum.bc.ca</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif"">
</span><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><img border="0" width="19" height="16" id="Picture_x0020_2" src="cid:image003.png@01D10679.34C1A350" alt="Twitter_logo_blue"></span><a href="https://twitter.com/RoyalBCMuseum"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif"">@RoyalBCMuseum</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif"">
</span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif""><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><u><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif";color:blue"><o:p><span style="text-decoration:none"> </span></o:p></span></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif"">Article references and links<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:.2in;mso-add-space:auto;mso-para-margin-bottom:1.2gd;mso-add-space:auto">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif";color:black;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif"">Beatty, B.</span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif";color:black;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA">L.
and Cockburn, T.C. 2015. New insights on the most primitive desmostylian from a partial skeleton of
<i>Behemotops</i> (Desmotylia, Mammalia) from Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 35(5), On Line August 27; 2015.</span><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif";mso-fareast-language:EN-CA">
DOI:</span><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif";mso-fareast-language:EN-CA">10.1080/02724634.2015.979939<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt;mso-add-space:auto"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif";color:black;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA">Johns, M.J., Trotter, J.A., Bonnett, C.J.M., and Barnes,
C.R. 2015. Neogene strontium isotope stratigraphy, foraminifer biostratigraphy, and lithostratigraphy from offshore wells, Queen Charlotte Basin, British Columbia, Canada.
<i>Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences</i>,<i> </i>52: 795–822. dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjes-2014-0159
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt;mso-add-space:auto"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif";color:black;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif";color:black;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA">Press Release</span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif";mso-fareast-language:EN-CA">:
</span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif"">UVic Research Reveals New Insights Into the Geological Evolution of Canada’s West Coast:
</span><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://communications.uvic.ca/releases/release.php?display=release&id=1486"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif";mso-fareast-language:EN-CA">http://communications.uvic.ca/releases/release.php?display=release&id=1486</span></a></span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif""><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif"">Saul, L.R. and Squires, R.L. 2015. Pacific Slope of North America Record of the Cretaceous Aporrhaid Gastropod
<i>Tessarolax</i>: Evolutionary Trends, Mode of Life, and Paleobiogeography of the Genus. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Contributions in Science, 523:37–65<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif";color:black;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA">Eberle, J.J., Brybczynski, N., and Greenwood, D.R. 2014. Early Eocene mammals from
the Driftwood Creek beds, Driftwood Canyon Provincial Park, Northern British Columbia. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 34(4):739–746.</span><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif";mso-fareast-language:EN-CA">
DOI:</span><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif";mso-fareast-language:EN-CA">10.1080/02724634.2014.838175<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif"">Press Release: New fossil discoveries: Ancient hedgehog and tapir once inhabited British Columbia:<span style="color:#34322F">
</span></span><span lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://nature.ca/en/about-us/museum-news/news/press-releases/new-fossil-discoveries-ancient-hedgehog-tapir-once-inhabite"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif"">http://nature.ca/en/about-us/museum-news/news/press-releases/new-fossil-discoveries-ancient-hedgehog-tapir-once-inhabite</span></a></span><u><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif";color:blue"><o:p></o:p></span></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif"">Jonsson, C.H.W., and Hebda, R. J. 2015. Macroflora, paleogeography, and paleoecology of the Upper Cretaceous (Turonian?</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif"">–</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif"">Santonian)
Saanich Member of the Comox Formation, Saanich Peninsula, British Columbia, Canada. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 52:519</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">̵̵</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif"">–</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55","sans-serif"">536.
dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjes-2014-0180<u><span style="color:blue"><o:p></o:p></span></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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