Local woman discovers fossil of ancient insect
A Princeton woman’s name is going into the history books after she discovered a fossil of an ancient flying insect in the Princeton area with ties to similar Russian discoveries.
Kathy Simpkins, a longtime volunteer for the Princeton Museum and Archives with a specialization in fossils, made the discovery during a field trip with her local rock club.
“It’s a thrill to contribute something to science. It’s amazing that a tiny wing holds such a big story,” Simpkins said.
The new species of scorpionfly is named Eomerope simpkinsae after her, and highlights a Canada-Russia connection dating back 53 million years.
Scientists and researchers have seen similar connections before between the two continents, which were once connected but are now separated by the Bering Strait.
Princeton Museum operations manager Terry Malanchuk said the discovery has now been studied “everywhere,” including The Smithsonian, The Royal BC Museum, Simon Fraser University and UBC. Russian scientists have been quite interested as well.
“This is another connection with Princeton because we also have platinum and the only other major deposit in the world is in Russia, as well,” Malanchuck noted.
He calls the area a “soup bowl” of discoveries.
“Because of the way the earth has been turned up around here over millions of years we have examples of most every era of paleontology as well as mineralization,” Malanchuck said. “You can find almost anything you’re looking for in the world located in this little valley.”
Bruce Archibald, a paleontologist at Simon Fraser University and the Royal BC Museum, agrees.
He notes important discoveries have been made in the area ever since George Mercer Dawson found fossils along creek beds in the 1870s.
“It has become a vital region for understanding our past, how our modern world came to be. It’s nice to see a local collector make such an important find,” Archibald said in a press release.
Only one species of scorpionfly is known to exist today. But rather than in East Asia or Russia, it’s found in the forests of coastal Chile.