A review of the plants of the Princeton chert (Eocene, British Columbia, Canada)

Abstract

Abstract:The Princeton chert is one of the most completely studied permineralized floras of the Paleogene. Remains of over 30 plant taxa have been described in detail, along with a diverse assemblage of fungi that document a variety of ecological interactions with plants. As a flora of the Okanagan Highlands, the Princeton chert plants are an assemblage of higher elevation taxa of the latest early to earliest middle Eocene, with some components similar to those in the related compression floras. However, like the well-known floras of Clarno, Appian Way, the London Clay, and Messel, the Princeton chert provides an additional dimension of internal structure. In the present study, we outline the history of Princeton chert plant research, starting with Boneham and others, and extending into studies by Stockey and her students and colleagues. These studies were undertaken primarily at the University of Alberta, Edmonton. We then re-examine the individual elements of the Princeton chert flora, using the framework of the currently recognized Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG III) phylogeny and in light of recent fossil discoveries. We hope that this update will bring to mind new aspects of the significance of the Princeton chert flora to Paleogene paleobiology, biogeography, and plant evolution.

An Eocene brontothere and tillodonts (Mammalia) from British Columbia, and their paleoenvironments

“…Consequently, the relative age inferred for the Vermilion Bluffs Shale based upon presence of Trogosus corroborates the 40 Ar/ 39 Ar and U-Pb age estimates for the Allenby Formation ranging from 52 to 48.7 Ma Ickert et al 2009;Little et al 2009;Greenwood et al 2016a;Pigg and DeVore 2016) (Fig. 2).…”

“…More recent 40 Ar/ 39 Ar and U-Pb dates from Allenby Formation volcanics are even older, at ϳ52 Ma (e.g., Moss et al 2005;Ickert et al 2009; summarized in Greenwood et al 2016a), with the top of the Allenby Formation likely ϳ48.7 Ma based on an unpublished date for Ash No. 22 in the Princeton Chert (Little et al 2009;Pigg and DeVore 2016). Moss et al (2005) reported an unpublished age using U-Pb from zircons for the Vermilion Bluffs Shale at Hospital Hill in the town of Princeton as 52.08 ± 0.12 Ma, which is consistent with an 40 Ar/ 39 Ar age of 52.0 ± 1 Ma for the overlying Sunday Creek Sandstone of Read (1987Read ( , 2000 by Ickert et al (2009).…”

“…Megaflora remains from the Allenby Formation in the Princeton area were first reported by Dawson (1890) and Penhallow (1908), and remain under study (Greenwood et al 2016a(Greenwood et al , 2016bPigg and DeVore 2016). Fossils discovered in outcrop and in mine tailings in the Princeton Basin include compression fossils of plants in shales and coals (e.g., Thomas Ranch; Dillhoff et al 2013;Greenwood et al 2016a).…”

“…Fossils discovered in outcrop and in mine tailings in the Princeton Basin include compression fossils of plants in shales and coals (e.g., Thomas Ranch; Dillhoff et al 2013;Greenwood et al 2016a). Three-dimensionally preserved plant organs occur in silicified peats of the Princeton Chert, part of the Ashnola Shale of Read (1987Read ( , 2000, on the east bank of the Similkameen River, south of Princeton (Pigg and DeVore 2016). The outcrops at Whipsaw and Nine-mile creeks are intersected in the abandoned Blue Flame mine, and are stratigraphically equivalent to the shales and coal seams mined in Pleasant Valley Mine No.…”

Paleoallium billgenseli gen. et sp. nov.: Fossil Monocot Remains from the Latest Early Eocene Republic Flora, Northeastern Washington State, USA

“…The Paleogene and Neogene monocot fossil records have been reviewed by several authors (Daghlian 1974;Stockey 2006;Pole 2007;Smith 2013;Iles et al 2015;Kellogg 2015; see also Conran et al 2009Conran et al , 2014Pigg and DeVore 2016). Basal monocots, particularly of the orders Arales and Alismatales, are among the best represented, probably in part because of their frequently aquatic habitat (Stockey 2006;Smith 2013).…”