West Coast Fossils: A Guide to the Ancient Life of Vancouver Island

By Rolf Ludvigsen and Graham Ludvigsen, Rolf;Beard

A decade ago, a nearly complete elasmosaur skeleton was found near Courtenay on Vancouver Island, in rocks dating from 80 million years ago, and it caused a sensation. Finds like this remind us that British Columbia is home to some of the richest marine fossil beds in the world, most of them on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands which lie along the geographically active "ring of fire" encircling the Pacific Ocean.Written by two leading paleontologists, this concise and authoritative guide introduces fossils from the area, from delicate insect wings to razor-sharp shark teeth to coiled ammonites the size of truck tires, each of which was once a living part of an ancient ecosystem.The book includes maps, charts and more than 200 fossil photographs, as well as information for locating, collecting, studying, photographing and preserving fossils, and notes on the ethics of fossil collecting.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1551101491
• ISBN13: 9781551101491
• Release Date: January 1994
• Publisher: Whitecap Books
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Readable, informative, excellent illustrations

Any reader who embarks upon reading this book as a first book on fossils will understand everything because the author, without being tedious, explains all terms as he goes along. The illustrations of the fossils are the clearest fossil illustrations I've ever seen. A guest illustrator provided line drawings of panoramas of life in the Cretaceous seas that will inspire many a "K - 12 and beyond" student with inspiration for their own dioramas. If you have to buy only one book on prehistoric sea life, this is the one.