Centre 2000, Grande Prairie
Badlands of the North
Ceratopsians (horned dinosaurs) were abundant, fascinating creatures, some of which had the largest skulls, and perhaps the most unique head ornamentations, of any land animal known. Pachyrhinosaurus is known from both Alberta and Alaska, making it one of the most geographically widespread ceratopsians in the world. These animals had a large, bony “boss” on their nose and over their eyes, unlike other ceratopsians who usually had horns.
The Grande Prairie area has not been explored as extensively as the southern Alberta badlands due to heavy plant cover and limited access, but several fossil producing areas are known, including the Pipestone Creek Pachyrhinosaurus bonebed. This mass grave is about 73 million years old, and contains individuals of various ages, indicating these animals may have travelled in herds like some animals do today.
John Janzen Nature Centre, Edmonton
Out With the Old, in With the New
Sixty-five million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous Period, dinosaurs vanished from the Earth. Early members of modern mammal groups like primates, ungulates, and carnivores began to diversify, and the Age of Mammals began.
Not too far from the Nature Centre, scientists recently discovered a gravel pit full of 25,000 to 30,000 year- old mammal fossils. These remains reveal the mix of species that once lived in the area—brown bears whose ancestors evolved in Asia, along with camels and horses originating from North America. These animals arrived in this part of the world by crossing a 1,500 kilometre wide land bridge connecting Siberia to Alaska, known as the Bering Straight.
Kerry Wood Nature Centre, Red Deer
Mammal Revolution
The Paskapoo Formation, a thick layer of rock, was deposited about 60 million years ago during a time interval called the Late Palaeocene, not long after the extinction of dinosaurs. The evidence of ancient soils, plants, and trees found here indicate this area once provided diverse habitats for a variety of animals, including the ancestors of many modern mammal groups.
Immediately after the disappearance of dinosaurs, 65 million years ago, most mammals were quite small. During the Late Palaeocene, some larger mammals evolved, a number of them reaching the size of a modern rhinoceros. The largest mammal remains from this time period found in Alberta are those belonging to a pantodont called Titanoides—a short-legged cross between a rhinoceros and a bear. While primates and insectivores (shrew and hedgehog type animals) inhabited the floodplains—salamanders, turtles, and crocodile-like reptiles made their homes in swamps and streams.
Dry Island Buffalo Jump Provincial Park
A Cosmic Crash that Saved the World
Within this area of the Red Deer valley, there is a thin layer of clay that marks the boundary between the Cretaceous and Tertiary time periods, representing the end of the Age of Dinosaurs. Containing debris that rained down on North America when a massive asteroid crashed into the Gulf of Mexico 65 million years ago, this claystone layer tells the story of the resulting devastation, and hints at the beginnings of new life.
As the Late Cretaceous environment was already changing, the asteroid impact only made matters worse. Many scientists believe the crash triggered acid rain, freezing temperatures, and long days of darkness. These conditions allowed ferns to thrive, but devastated other plant life, including forests, which took nearly 100,000 years to recover. During this time of radical environmental transformation as many as 40 per cent of all species vanished from Earth—those that survived included small mammals, birds, and reptiles.
For more information visit the Dry Island Buffalo Jump Provincial Park website.
Midland Provincial Park, Drumheller
Before the Badlands Were Bad
The Red Deer River valley badlands were formed a little over 14 thousand years ago, though they expose history dating back 72 million years, a point in time when Alberta boasted subtropical temperatures.
This once lush, green corner of the world was home to fishes, salamanders, turtles, crocodiles, small mammals, and many, many dinosaurs. Half of the dinosaur remains discovered there belong to hadrosaurs (duck-billed dinosaurs). Other dinosaurs that lived there include horned ceratopsians, armoured ankylosaurs, dome-headed pachycephalosaurs, bird-mimic ornithomimids, swift dromaeosaurs, and fierce, meat-eating theropods.
For more information visit the Midland Provincial Park website.
Horseshoe Canyon, Drumheller
For the Record
The rocks exposed in Horseshoe Canyon record a time of major environmental and climatic change that occurred 70 million years ago. Tan-coloured mudstones, exposed at the base, represent dry floodplains and a cool climate that was far less inviting to animals than the wetlands of the Drumheller valley. Though different species of duck-billed hadrosaurs can be found there, horned dinosaur remains are not, and turtle and crocodilian remains are rare. In contrast, the grey-green mudstones and dark-coloured coal beds exposed in the upper half of the canyon represent a return to warm wetlands. In this layer, fossil remains of ceratopsians, large turtles, and crocodiles are common. These rocks demonstrate that dramatic environmental changes greatly affected both plant and animal life.
For more information visit the Kneehill County website.
Strathcona Park, Medicine Hat
The Big Chill Brought Big Changes
Over the last 400,000 years, changing climatic conditions have attracted certain species to the Medicine Hat region, and have driven them from it. While arctic mammals thrived during glacial periods, less hearty animals came to the region only as the glaciers melted.
The cliffs along the South Saskatchewan River contain fossils from plants and animals that have come and gone with the advance and retreat of glaciers over the course of 800,000 years. Evidence of giant sloths, American lions, mammoths, and sabre-toothed cats have all been found in this region.
For more information visit the Medicine Hat Parks and Outdoor Recreation Department website.
Lundbreck Falls Provincial Recreation Area
The Rocks Reveal a Watery Past
Alberta was once home to a host of sea creatures. Some that are well known today, like fishes, sharks, and oysters, and others that are much less familiar. Giant clams, almost two-metres wide, camped out on the ocean floor, while air-breathing marine lizards called mosasaurs preyed upon squid-like ammonites along the shallow shoreline.
As the Western Interior Seaway, which once connected the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, began its retreat eastward, marshes, forests, rivers, and deltas took its place—creating an ideal environment¬¬ for reptiles, mammals, and dinosaurs.
For more information visit the Lundbreck Falls Provincial Recreation Area website.
Devil's Coulee, Warner
When Hadrosaurs Roamed
Millions of years ago, as the Rocky Mountains rose to the West, warm seawater inched across what is now the prairies. This body of water, known as the Western Interior Seaway, stretched from the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico. As water levels rose and dissipated over millions of years, they impacted the region’s weather.
Ancient Alberta’s balmy climate was appealing to a growing dinosaur population. Lush forests, coastal plains, and wetlands were home to an increasingly diverse number of land animals, like hadrosaurs. These duck-billed dinosaurs thrived in this environment, using their beak-like mouths to feast on trees and plants.
This region was such a popular nesting site for hadrosaurs that scientists at the Royal Tyrrell Museum have found over 20,000 eggshell fragments.
For more information visit the Devil's Coulee Dinosaur and Heritage Museum website.
