Identification Guide to the Fossil Plants of the Horseshoe Canyon Formation of Drumheller, Alberta

Prehistoric expert Kevin Aulenback presents an easy-to-use guide for the identification of Cretaceous fossil plant finds suitable for amateurs and professionals alike.

Plant fossils have helped scientists reconstruct the natural surroundings that supported the growth and evolution of dinosaurs—their food sources and habitat. While there are many scientific and general books on the dinosaurs and dinosaur fossils of the Horseshoe Canyon Formation, this is the first general publication on fossil plants within the province of Alberta since 1949.

The information in this guide is based on Kevin Aulenback’s years of experience and discovery with hands-on investigation of fossil plants in the Horseshoe Canyon Formation and other areas, and it is supported with the most up-to-date scientific discussion on paleobotany (the study of ancient plants) and palynology (the study of spores and pollen).

The book is an easy-to-use guide for the amateur and professional alike to identifying Cretaceous fossil plant finds. Illustrated with over 800 drawings and photographs, the guide gives the reader/collector enough information on their finds, as well as on still-living comparatives, to accurately identify fossils within the field or lab. The guide contains many unpublished fossil finds noted by the author over sixteen years of research, discovery, and observation in the Horseshoe Canyon Formation.

Kevin Aulenback worked for many years as a full-time technician with the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller, Alberta. His expertise in prehistoric flora spearheaded the redevelopment of the museum’s paleoconservatory and garnered two recognition awards for service from the Government of Alberta.

Preface
Foreword
Acknowledgements
Photographic Credits

Introduction
Purpose

Geology of the Horseshoe Canyon Formation
Ash Beds
Coal Seam or Zone Markers
Palynology
Paleo-magnetostratigraphy

Types of Preservation and Methods of Study
Compression Impressions
Casts and Moulds
Petrification
Carbonization
Collecting Specimens
Cataloguing, preparation, and the study of specimens
Problems encountered with interpretations of fossil specimens
Classification of Fossil Plants Found in the Horseshoe Canyon Formation

The History of Fossil Plant Collection in the Horseshoe Canyon Formation of Drumheller, Alberta

Present Status of the Plant Fossil Record

KINGDOM PROTISTA
KINGDOM MYCETEAE
Division Thallopyta
KINGDOM PLANTAE
Division Hepatophyta
Division Bryophyta
Division Lycopodiophyta
Divsison Sphenophyta
Division Filicophyta
Division Cycadophyta
Division Ginkgophyta
Division Coniferophyta
Division Angiospermophyta

Environmental Reconstruction of the Horseshoe Canyon Formation Based on the Flora
Environmental Reconstruction of the Horseshoe Canyon Based on the Fauna

Food for Thought: Dinosaur/Plant Interaction

Conclusion
Glossary
References and Selected Readings
Index

A necessary addition to a much neglected field of fossil literature.

—Dean Wirth, Amazon