The Alberta badlands and the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller are not the only dwelling place of dinosaurs in the Cretaceous. Hadrosaur fossils have been found in BC and the footprints of the dreadful Tyrannosaurus Rex have also been found in northern part of the province.
As much of Vancouver Island was a shallow sea during the cretaceous we have a large number of marine fossils.
Muir Creek Beach - Oligocene Period
 |
(fossil shells trapped in stone) |
Nothing fires up the imagination more for me than a trip in a time machine. Whether it be to the Cretaceous period up island along the Puntledge River or to the more recent Tertiary period of the Cenozoic, a mere 25 million years ago, the west coast of Vancouver Island will take your breath away and deliver up hidden treasures for seekers.
 |
| Sandstone Cliffs |
a little prehistory
Hidden inside these beautiful cliffs are the remains of living creatures from millions of years ago, mainly the ancestors of bivalves and gastropods. I even found fossilized teredo worms ( bivalves) that burrowed into wood (also fossilized). Marine mammal remains can be found as well such as teeth and bones.
Vancouver Island is part of the Wrangellian terrain that moved up from the equator and collided with north America in the Triassic period and it extends from Alaska down through BC.
From the Triassic to the Cretaceous most of the area made up a warm shallow sea so was home to ammonites, and frightening carnivorous marine reptiles like the Elasmasaurus but there were also some areas of ancient plant life above water, like ferns, cycads, platanus and angiosperms.
Vancouver Island is part of the Wrangellian terrain that moved up from the equator and collided with north America in the Triassic period and it extends from Alaska down through BC.
From the Triassic to the Cretaceous most of the area made up a warm shallow sea so was home to ammonites, and frightening carnivorous marine reptiles like the Elasmasaurus but there were also some areas of ancient plant life above water, like ferns, cycads, platanus and angiosperms.
 |
| Bi -valve fossils in sandstone |
 |
| A time before man |
Fossil remains and old bones by a river - Courtney BC
 |
| Beautiful Stotan Falls Park on confluence of Brown and Puntledge Rivers a remnant of Eden |
 |
Swept away - Puntledge River Falls
|
Courtney, on Vancouver Island in the beautiful Comox valley, is home to the Paleontology Museum. There the Puntledge and Brown Rivers are rich in fossil remains from the Cretaceous period. Many giant marine reptiles have been discovered here like the elasmoaurus which was discovered by a little 10 year old girl who was out hiking with her father. Both father and daughter were avid collectors and amateur paleontologists.
I've collected a few treasures too from this beautiful and wild area. Wear good hiking shoes and watch out for cougars.
I've collected a few treasures too from this beautiful and wild area. Wear good hiking shoes and watch out for cougars.
The jaw of an elasmasaur
with Mike Trask on the river bed
 |
| beneath the cretaceous sea- banks of the Brown River
young Paleontologists at work!
|
 |
Two great finds
This was like opening an easter egg,
finding this wonderful imprint of an ancient leaf inside a rock, probably platanus
ammonite magic
finding this wonderful imprint of an ancient leaf inside a rock, probably platanus
