Pleistocene Muskoxen ( Symbos) from Alberta and British Columbia

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences
• Main Author: Harington, C. R.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1975
• Subjects: muskox
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/e75-083; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/e75-083

Skull fragments of the extinct muskox Symbos cavifrons from late Pleistocene gravels at Fort Saskatchewan and Saanich Peninsula, Vancouver Island are the first records of that species for Alberta and southern British Columbia respectively. The Alberta specimen shows that Symbos herds once grazed along the eastern flanks of the Rocky Mountains.The discovery of a muskox fossil (and remains of other ice age land mammals) on southeastern Vancouver Island suggests that land connected the island with the mainland during the late Pleistocene. Causes for such a land connection or connections are considered.