![Geological Survey of Canada Geological Survey of Canada](/web/20061103031024im_/http://www.gsc.nrcan.gc.ca/esst_images/gsc_e.jpeg) Natural Resources Canada > Earth Sciences Sector > Geological Survey of Canada > Past lives: Chronicles of Canadian Paleontology
Past lives: Chronicles of Canadian Paleontology Phoenicites: the largest fossil leaf
When archeological material is uncovered, established protocols
ensure that important specimens and data are secured. Few provinces in
Canada, however, have established similar protocols for paleontological
material. The paleobotanical treasure, here, was saved by the uncommon
action of an individual worker
![This 1.5 m long frond of the Upper Cretaceous palm Phoenicites from Duke Point on Vancouver Island is possibly the largest fossil leaf ever found in Canada. Malaspina College Collections. (Photo by Maggie McColl (c).) This 1.5 m long frond of the Upper Cretaceous palm Phoenicites from Duke Point on Vancouver Island is possibly the largest fossil leaf ever found in Canada. Malaspina College Collections. (Photo by Maggie McColl (c).)](/web/20061103031024im_/http://www.gsc.nrcan.gc.ca/paleochron/images/fig142_1.jpg) This 1.5 m long frond of the Upper Cretaceous palm Phoenicites from Duke Point on Vancouver Island is possibly the largest fossil leaf ever found in Canada. Malaspina College Collections.
(Photo by Maggie McColl (c).) |
On a hot day in early August 1996, bulldozer operator John Bell was
busy moving large chunks of blasted Upper Cretaceous sandstone along the
approach to the new ferry terminal at Duke Point, south of Nanaimo on
Vancouver Island. He spotted something peculiar on the underside of a
massive piece of grey rock. It was not a fracture -- the closely spaced
lines extending from a central axis were more reminiscent of a gigantic
feather. It was definitely unusual. So, instead of adding this rock to
those destined for crushing, Bell lifted the basket of the bulldozer up 3 metres and set the rock at the edge of the roadcut, right in front of the
Cranberry Arms Inn. A stunning plant fossil could then be seen -- a palm
frond nearly 2 metres long, possibly the largest fossil leaf ever found in
Canada.
Other plant fossils were also present -- leaves with the veins in
relief, conifer foliage, delicate fern fronds and, most surprising of all,
exquisitely preserved flowers. The press was alerted and a spate of
articles in Nanaimo and Victoria newspapers followed (one predictably
referred to these plant fossils as "dinosaur salad"). Soon,
amateur paleontologists descended on the site. And, in what can only be
described as a rescue mission, fossiliferous blocks were snatched,
literally in front of working bulldozers, to prevent their ending up as
crushed stone.
These king-sized Cretaceous palm fronds 80 million years old are
appropriately identified as Phoenicites imperialis. Each frond
consists of a stout gradually tapering rachis (a main axis of a compound
leaf) up to 2 m long. The rays form a continuous sheet of 1 cm-wide
plications that have the appearance of a fine venetian blind. In life,
these leaves must have been leathery and tough. The generic name alludes
to a similarity to the living date palm, Phoenix, but it is
unlikely that they are closely related.
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