Paleontology on ‘Hard Mode’

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Dino News and Views

It’s early August, and paleontologists are well into their summer dinosaur digs throughout the Grande Prairie region. Despite the nasty amount of rain this summer leading to some truly uncomfortable fieldwork conditions, we still push forward with high spirits and continue to find new and exciting fossil animals in the rocks around here.

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Many believe that the sole aim of paleontology in the Peace country is to keep on digging at the Pipestone Creek dinosaur bonebed, but there’s a much bigger picture happening in these parts. Now, Pipestone is a local treasure, is still as relevant to the world of paleontology today as it ever was, and we’re continuing to make sure the fossils there are collected and well cared for. However, most of the time we know what we’re going to get down there. Seeing as how the bonebed is almost completely made up of the well-known horned dinosaur Pachyrhinosaurus, it’s not overly likely we’ll see any new species turning up at Pipestone right now (though it does throw the odd surprise at us from time to time, such as the neat recent find of a rare carnivorous dromaeosaur tooth over the long weekend). Still, you never know what’ll happen…

While the Pipestone Creek site is generously abundant in one particular type of dinosaur, other dinosaur excavations the museum is involved with are showing entire ecosystems made up of bits and pieces of species that are probably new to science. As part of the Boreal Alberta Dinosaur Project with our collaborators from the University of Alberta and University of New England in Australia, our paleontology team is scouring the Cretaceous rock exposures along the area’s river valleys looking for fossils.

So far the results are becoming more and more promising every year. Entire bonebeds of duck-billed hadrosaurs, whole sections of giant herbivores preserved in massive sandstone blocks, carnivorous dinosaur teeth still sharp after millions of years, preserved trackways, and skulls from new species of lizards, turtles, and hadrosaurs, are all in the process of being scientifically collected and described. Some dinosaurs are either known from only traces, or are absent completely so far. Armored ankylosaurs, ostrich-mimic dinosaurs, dome-headed pachycephalosaurs are notable examples. We also have no good bone remains from tyrannosaurs yet, and same goes for the birdlike troodontids. Were all these types of dinosaurs present down south and absent here? Certainly not. But fossil hunting in the Grande Prairie area is full of extra challenges.

The big Cretaceous rock unit in the area, the Wapiti Formation, is basically the same age as the famous dinosaur-bearing badlands of southeastern Alberta, and is just as rich in dinosaurs and other fossil animals too. That said, most of it is covered by dense forests, and most exposures are in deep river valleys thick with trees, mud, and mosquitos. Steep terrain, flash floods, and the occasional bear are all hazards that come with the job. We don’t have the luxury of vast, open badlands where paleontologists can wander freely and find bones in any given rocky outcrop. All of this means that it’s usually harder to find the smaller, rarer types of dinosaurs around here, making what fossil sites we do have all the more important. Paleontology in Grande Prairie is the science on ‘hard mode’.

Can you get involved and help out in this new paleontology frontier? Absolutely! There’s a lot that both residents and visitors can do to be a part of this critical time in the science of extinct life. Consider signing up for our Palaeo for a Day program, where you can work alongside our team to excavate fossils from the Pipestone Creek dinosaur bonebed. Find a neat fossil yourself in some other location? We’d love to hear about it! Some of the biggest and most exciting finds in the history of paleontology were discovered by everyday folks with their eyes on the ground. Want to see the action first-hand but not get so muddy? Hop on a Pipestone Creek bonebed tour some weekend! And as always, support your local paleontology museum. We rely on dino-fans like you to keep the discoveries coming.

Upcoming museum events:

August 10, 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM: Jet Boat Tours. Discover another side of dinosaurs with a view of the Wapiti River!

August 10, 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM: Free Outdoor Yoga & Summer Jams with Christina Rogers

August 16, 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM: Devour and Dino

Try your hand at working with real dinosaur bones. The Fossil Preparation Lab Volunteer program is running Tuesdays-Thursdays and the first Saturday of the month from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Fridays from 1–7 p.m. For a posted schedule, see dinomuseum.ca/programs/public-programs/fossil-preparation-lab/.

Nicholas Carter