West Coast Fossils: A Guide to the Ancient Life of Vancouver Island. 2nd ed.

John E. Storer is a Yukon palaeontologist and the author of Geological
History of Saskatchewan.

More detailed than general surveys and more accessible than the
scientific literature, West Coast Fossils is part of a growing
intermediate-level literature on fossils and the earth’s history. Rolf
Ludvigsen has become a master of the genre. His 1996 book Life in Stone,
an edited collection of papers on the fossils of British Columbia,
filled a huge gap. In the second edition of West Coast Fossils, which
focuses on Vancouver Island paleontology, Ludvigsen and co-author Graham
Beard examine the geological history of the Cordillera centring on
Wrangellia (the exotic terrain of which Vancouver Island is a part).
Approaching the fossils from almost every possible angle, they review
the groups of organisms that are part of Vancouver Island’s record,
describe the known fossil faunas in detail, and discuss the Island’s
collecting localities. General sections on fossils, illustration,
geological time, and collecting and studying fossils round out a book
that will be useful to readers at all levels of interest and experience.


Sharp photographs illustrate nearly every kind of Vancouver Island
fossil, while maps and diagrams make important points. The text is
crisp, clear, and well edited. Recommended for paleontologists (amateur
or professional) and public libraries throughout western North America.