Our 2023 palaeontology lecture series "Let's Talk Fossils: 500 Million Years of Palaeontology in Newfoundland and Labrador" featured eight different speakers, each discussing their palaeontological research here in Newfoundland. All of these lectures are now available for viewing online.

If you have any questions about these presentations, please don't hesitate to contact our resident palaeontologist Dr. Rod Taylor (rodt@mun.ca).

 

Rod Taylor, “500 million years of fossils: an introduction to the remarkable palaeontology of Newfoundland & Labrador”

The province of Newfoundland and Labrador has a complex geological history, resulting in a rich and diverse variety of body and trace fossils. Preserved traces of ancient life can be found in many places in the province, ranging from 100 million years old to more than half a billion years in age. Many of these early organisms lived on prehistoric seafloors, while others grew on land or flew through the air. This talk will serve as a brief introduction to the many palaeontological wonders Newfoundland and Labrador has to offer, setting the stage for a series of palaeontology-themed talks to take place at the Johnson Geo Centre in the coming weeks.  

 

 

 

Chris McKean, “New discoveries from old fossils: Conception Bay North’s unique fossil heritage”

For over 50 years the Ediacaran fossils of Newfoundland have been essential in furthering our scientific understanding of the earliest complex organisms on planet Earth. Work has largely focused on sites found within the Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve and the Discovery Global Geopark on the Bonavista Peninsula. Recently, however, work has been conducted on a lesser-known site situated in Conception Bay North where uniquely preserved fossils could help us to answer some of our longest standing questions about these enigmatic creatures. Work led by Christopher McKean at Memorial University has focused on explaining how the uniqueness of this Conception Bay site came into being, what fossils are preserved there, and how it can be protected for future generations of both scientists and the public for years to come. 

 

Emily Mitchell, “Using ecology to unlock the secrets of Ediacaran evolution”

The sudden appearance of animals in the fossil record, during the Ediacaran time period, after billions of years of microbial life, is one of the most important events in the history of life on Earth. Studying Ediacaran evolution is fraught with difficulties due to uniqueness of Ediacaran anatomies which lack clear modern counterparts. However, the preservation of Ediacaran fossils is exceptional, with thousands of organisms preserved where they lived. This exceptional preservation means that we can use a suite of ecological methodologies, normally only used on living communities, to understand the ecology and evolution of the first animals. In order to map out these Ediacaran communities, we laser-scan hundreds of square meters of Ediacaran bedding planes to capture over 20,000 fossils in-situ across Newfoundland. We have started to tease apart Ediacaran evolutionary dynamics, revealing how Ediacaran dynamics shifted from a relatively random start, dominated by asexual reproduction, reduced competition, and limited environmental interactions to more complex dynamics, with strong specialization of animals and strong interactions between animals, just like today.

  

Dani Pérez Pinedo, “A hydrodynamic approach to better understanding the palaeobiology of the Ediacaran rangeomorph Fractofusus misrai”

Fossils from the deep-sea Ediacaran biotas of Newfoundland are among the oldest architecturally complex soft-bodied macroorganisms on Earth. Even though these enigmatic organisms are thought to have built simple ecosystems, their feeding strategies remain debated, including suspension feeding and osmotrophy. The Ediacaran fossil Fractofusus misrai belongs to the clade Rangeomorpha, is the most common fossil on the iconic E Surface at Mistaken Point, and has recently been documented from a new fossiliferous surface at Capelin Gulch near Melrose in the Catalina Dome. Fractofusus specimens on this surface show preferential orientations, where sedimentological paleocurrent indicators can be used to confidently infer the current direction. By using computational fluid dynamics and highly detailed morphological reconstructions we aim to shed light on their feeding strategies, potential current-related mechanical damage, and their role as ecosystem engineers.

 

Hilary Corlett, “Early Paleozoic microbial carbonates of west Newfoundland – their significance and beauty”

Microbial carbonates play a big role in the beginnings of complex life on our planet. In the early Paleozoic, atmospheric oxygen was still much lower than today, and life in the world’s oceans took on many complex forms. During intervals of stress and limited resources, microbes filled ecological gaps and created beautiful structures on shallow marine platforms. We can learn a great deal about the conditions that existed in these environments by examining the shapes of these structures, and through understanding more about the microbes that built them. In this introduction to west Newfoundland’s incredible microbial mats, mounds, and pillars, we will explore their role in and the establishment of marine ecosystems that resemble those of modern day, and how their presence in the rock record signals major biotic turnovers.

 

Doug Boyce, “Newfoundland and Labrador: A Trilobite Collecting Paradise”

The Trilobita — an extinct class of Cambrian to Permian marine arthropods (521–251 m.y.) — are among the most important fossils here, crucial to the understanding of the province’s geological history. Rich Cambrian and Ordovician trilobite faunas of eastern and western Newfoundland contrast sharply with each other; the two areas were in different climactic zones on opposite sides of the Early Paleozoic Iapetus Ocean. Western Newfoundland was located in tropical to equatorial latitudes on the margin of the continent of Laurentia, whereas eastern Newfoundland was located in higher (temperate to polar) latitudes, covered by cooler waters around the continent of Avalonia. Trilobite remains typically are preserved as incomplete, disarticulated molts or fragments. Complete trilobites represent dead individuals — most common in the Early Cambrian Forteau Formation (southeastern Labrador and western Newfoundland), the Middle Cambrian Penguin Gove Formation near Gallants (western  Newfoundland), and the Middle Cambrian Chamberlain’s Brook and Manuels River Formations (eastern Newfoundland). Bell Island is world famous for its Early Ordovician trilobite trace fossils (tracks, trails, and burrows).  

 

  

Duncan McIlroy, “The first evidence for animals in the rock record is fittingly from ‘The Rock’”

The late Proterozoic of Newfoundland is world-famous for its well-dated Ediacaran biota. Discoveries from across eastern Newfoundland have filled gaps in our knowledge of the earliest animal-like ancestors. The groups composing this Ediacaran Biota include the fractal-like Rangeomorpha, the sea-pen like Arboreomorpha, and a large number of “Problematica.” One of the key characteristics of this Ediacaran Biota is that the organisms show no evidence of having been able to actively locomote, and as such do not meet the criteria for being members of the Animalia. However, there is an increasing body of evidence that suggest that some of the earliest evidence for our own kingdom (the Animalia) can be found living among the Rangeomorphs and Arboreomorphs - members of the Porifera (sponges) and Cnidaria (jellyfish relatives). Those ancient animal fossils provide evidence for the long (evolutionary) fuse to the “Cambrian Explosion” of complex animal life. My talk will present some of the evidence for the earliest animals, with fossils from Mistaken Point UNESCO World Heritage Site, Discovery UNESCO Global Geopark, and also the new Inner Meadow site in Conception Bay. 

 

 

 

 

Pascal Olschewski and Nagi Chida, “It’s the little things in life: a journey into the microcosm of paleontology”

Whether we are waiting for pizza dough to rise, a pollen allergy is striking again, or we are simply taking a deep breath of fresh air, tiny organisms have a profound impact on our lives and on our planet – and have done for over 3.5 billion years! Living things, sometimes so small that they are invisible to the naked eye, have been fossilized in vast quantities. They can be the main components of rocks, and may make up entire landscapes. Unlike the (often gigantic) dinosaurs, microfossils are little known to the public but are an invaluable resource for paleontologists as they can be used to understand and reconstruct long lost ecosystems. But what are they exactly? How did they turn into stone, and how can we study microfossils if we can hardly see them? Pascal’s presentation will cover the broad field of micropaleontology, with particular reference to ongoing projects by Memorial University’s MUNpaleobiology research group on the east and west coasts of the island of Newfoundland.  Also, Nagi will introduce us to her research examining the microbial textures and microbially-induced sedimentary structures (MISS) that make up an important component of the Ediacaran fossiliferous surfaces here in Newfoundland. Click below to view.