AMS-dated late Pleistocene taiga vole (Rodentia: Microtus xanthognathus) from northeast British Columbia, Canada: a cautionary lesson in chronologyThis article is one of a selection of papers published in this Special Issue on the theme Geology of northeastern British Columbia and northwestern Alberta: diamonds, shallow gas, gravel, and glaciers .

Dissected colluvial sediments on a Peace River terrace at Bear Flat, northeast British Columbia enclosed a late Pleistocene micromammalian faunule. The fossil remains, including a few loosely articulated skulls and mandibles, were dominated by taiga voles ( Microtus xanthognathus ). The Bear Flat si...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences
Main Authors: Hebda, Richard J., Burns, James A., Geertsema, Marten, Jull, A. J. Timothy
Other Authors: Davis, W. (Bill) J.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Canadian Science Publishing 2008
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/e07-064
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/E07-064
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/E07-064
Description
Summary:Dissected colluvial sediments on a Peace River terrace at Bear Flat, northeast British Columbia enclosed a late Pleistocene micromammalian faunule. The fossil remains, including a few loosely articulated skulls and mandibles, were dominated by taiga voles ( Microtus xanthognathus ). The Bear Flat site constitutes the second fossil occurrence in the region of this elusive species, which is unknown in British Columbia in historic times. The late Pleistocene age, determined by accelerator mass spectrometry directly on taiga vole bone collagen, is consistent with the ages of widespread taiga vole records peripheral to the Laurentide ice sheet in western, mid-western, and eastern North America. The presence of allo-chronous remains within a comprehensively dated sedimentary sequence provides a cautionary note about straightforward acceptance of relative stratigraphic dating.