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History

5 dino finds from the Peace Region

Significant discoveries that have been made in northern Alberta
  • Sep 15, 2015
  • 291 words
  • 2 minutes
An exhibit within the newly opened Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum. (Photo: Guillaume Nolet)
An exhibit within the newly opened Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum. (Photo: Guillaume Nolet)
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Southern Alberta, specifically the Drumheller region, has long received the majority of the dino fame within Canada. But the Peace Country in northern Alberta deserves its due credit, and it’s starting to get it. With the recent opening of the new Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum, local paleontologists aim to shine the spotlight on this under-the-radar treasure trove of dinosaur discoveries. Here are some of the specimens that have been found in the area.

Ceratopsians
The Pipestone Creek Bonebed is one of the richest dinosaur bonebeds in the world, and is filled with a species of horned dinosaur – Pachyrhinosaurus lakustai – that had not previously been found. While we’re not entirely sure the exact circumstances that led to this mass grave, we can marvel at it’s impressive size: it stretches at least as large as a football field.

Hadrosaurs
Hadrosaurs, sometimes called “duck-billed donosaurs” were the most common dinosaurs in Grande Prairie. In fact, the Wapiti Formation boasts the northernmost articulated hadrosaur, with one Edmontosaurus skeleton found with the scaly skin fossilized.

Tyrannosaurs
The teeth of Tyrannosaurs are often found near the skeletons of hadrosaurs they’d been eating. The exact species of the large carnivorous dinosaurs have not yet identified the in the Peace aea.

Lizard fossils
These tiny fossils are extremely rare, and the only Cretaceous lizard skulls to be found in North America were discovered in Peace Country and named Kleskunsaurus after Grande Prairie’s Kleskun Hill.

Pterosaurs
The footprints of dinosaurs can often be found on sandstone boulders exposed along rivers. Grande Prairie boasts a pterosaur footprint that’s the first of its kind in Canada. The pterosaur was not a dinosaur but were related to them, and could fly.

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This story is from the October 2015 Issue

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