MEETING A GIANT OF THE DINOSAUR AGE (Via Its Fossil Remains)

Giant Sea Reptiles of the Dinosaur Age. At the Royal Tyrell Museum, Drumheller, Alberta

In May 2023 I visited the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller, Canada, the most amazing display of dinosaur fossils I have ever seen. (See my blogpost, June 19, 2023, for more about the exhibits.) I was especially interested in the room containing the remains of Shonisaurus, the giant sea reptile that is the on the cover of my book Giant Sea Reptiles of the Dinosaur Age (Clarion Books, 2007.)

I love learning about dinosaurs and what the world was like when they were alive. My book, Giant Sea Reptiles of the Dinosaur Age, looks at the diversity of large reptiles that once inhabited the world’s oceans. Like the dinosaurs, they all became extinct 65 million years ago. We know about them today from their fossil remains.

Opening pages of Giant Sea Reptiles of the Dinosaur Age

On my recent trip to the Royal Tyrell Museum in Drumheller, Alberta, Canada I was thrilled to see up close the remains of Shonisaurus sikanniensis, the huge ichthyosaur that I wrote about in the opening pages of the book. It fills an entire room at the museum. Here's what I wrote:

Fossil skeleton of Shonisaurus sikanniensis.

Two hundred and twenty million years ago, in waters that covered what is now western Canada, a huge marine reptile cruised the shallow seas. Propelling itself with flat, flipper-like limbs, the 70-foot long animal hunted for shellfish and other small ocean animals, which it sucked into its long, toothless snout and swallowed. This fearsome creature was Shonisaurus sikanniensis, a species of ichthyosaur, one of several types of large sea reptiles that inhabited the world’s oceans in the Dinosaur Age.

The fossil remains of Shonisaurus sikanniensis were first discovered in 1991 when a hiker in northern British Columbia spotted some big fossil bones eroding out of the banks of the Sikanni Chief River. He reported his find to the Royal Tyrell Museum of Paleontology, in Drumheller, Alberta, where one of the curators, Dr. Elizabeth Nicholls, was an expert on prehistoric sea reptiles. She visited the site and was amazed by what she saw. The bones were bigger than those of any known marine reptile, and, incredibly, most of the skeleton was intact. The only missing parts were the hind limbs. Over the course of three summers, the fossil skeleton was dug out of the ground and transported to the museum, where it was studied and prepared for exhibit. Every part of the animal proved to be huge. The massive skull weighed more than one and a half tons, and the largest vertebrae, which measured nearly 11 inches across, were the size of dinner plates. In 2006, the giant skull of Shonisaurus sikanniensis went on display at the museum. Along with the rest of the skeleton, it will help answer questions about the appearance and lifestyle of this giant prehistoric predator and why it grew so big.

As Elizabeth Nicholls is quoted in the museum display: "The world we live in right now is just a blink in the history of life on our planet. 220 million years ago there was a tremendous diversity of life that we know so little about."

Giant Sea Reptiles of the Dinosaur Age is illustrated with beautiful detailed watercolor paintings by Laurie Caple. The book is no longer available in print, but you can look for it in your local library.  It will introduce you to some of the most amazing creatures that ever swam in the oceans the world.

At the Royal Tyrrell Museum, Drumheller, Alberta, Canada

 

 

THE ROYAL TYRELL MUSEUM, Drumheller, Alberta, Canada, a Prehistoric Treasure Trove

Royal Tyrell Museum, Drumheller, Alberta, Canada

In early May, Art and I were in Canada, landing in Calgary, then driving about an hour and a half across the Alberta wheat fields to the town of Drumheller, located in the Canadian Badlands, where some of the world’s most impressive dinosaur fossils have been found. Our goal was to visit the Royal Tyrell Museum of Paleontology, a treasure trove of fossils from the Dinosaur Age.

Dinosaur fossils at the Royal Tyrell Museum, Drumheller, Alberta, Canada

After buying our tickets at the museum entrance, we followed signs to the first room, which we found filled with life size models of dinosaurs and an introduction to life in Cretaceous Alberta. We felt as if we had stepped into another world.

Cretaceous Alberta. Seventy million years ago, eastern Alberta was warmer and wetter than it is today and was teeming with wildlife—dinosaurs of all sorts of shapes and sizes!

Dinosaurs lived from about 230 to 64 million years ago, during the Mesozoic Era.

A visit to the museum is a trip through time—3.9 billion years of evolution. 

While some skeletons are displayed in life-like poses, assembled as they would have been in the living animal---

Camarasaurus. The mounting of the skeletons in real-life poses recreates the drama of life in the past.

--or even as whole skeletons as they appeared when first discovered---

This T. rex skeleton is known as “black beauty". The bones became darkened by the element manganese during fossilization.

--it is more typical for fossil bones to be scattered, needing to be reassembled like a jigsaw puzzle.

A typical bonebed.

And not only are there fossils of dinosaurs at the museum, but also of plants, insects, fish, amphibians, birds, other reptiles.

Fossil impression of an early bird Confuciousornis sanctus (125-120 mya) from Liaoning Province China. Donated by the Chinese Academy of Science.

While most exhibits are just to look at, some invite participation. Standing next to this Camarasaurus hind limb, I look miniscule. In real life Camarasaurus grew to be 60 feet long and weighed 32 tons.

Camarasaurus right hind limb.

Albertosaurus sarcophagus hand--and my hand!

The remains of Borealopelta markmitchelli, found at a mine north of Fort McMurray, are of the best-preserved armored dinosaur in the world.  This dinosaur is named after Mark Mitchell, who worked on the specimen to prepare it for study and exhibit.  Analysis of pigments found with the skeleton suggest that the dinosaur was reddish-brown in real life.

Borealopelta markmitchelli

Most of the fossils on exhibit at the Tyrell Museum have been found in Canada, but some are from other places. A slab of fossilized ferns from a coal mine in Pennsylvania is mounted at the entrance to the Cretaceous Garden, a greenhouse with ferns, cycads, and other plants typical of the Dinosaur Age.

Ancient ferns preserved in coal.

Every day scientists are learning new things about dinosaurs. The large flat plates along the spine of Stegosaurus were probably used for display and species recognition, but traces of blood vessels suggest they may also have been used to help regulate body temperature.

Stegosaurus. This slow-moving, plant-eating dinosaur was about 20-25 feet long and weighed 2-5 tons.

 

Shonisaurus skeleton.

One whole room of the museum is devoted to the giant fossil of a sea reptile called Shonisaurus, the biggest and best-preserved giant sea reptile fossil ever found. I wrote about its discovery in my book Giant Sea Reptiles of the Dinosaur Age. It was a thrill to meet it in person--and to see all the other amazing fossils that fill the museum. (You can read more about Shonisaurus in a separate blog post at my Art and Books blog.)

The path through the museum winds its way through many rooms (including some on the second level) finally exiting through the gift shop. Among the many souvenirs for sale I was pleased to see a large selection of children's books about dinosaurs and the prehistoric world. We visited on a Saturday afternoon and the museum was filled with families of dinosaur enthusiasts. As we left the last room of the museum we were reminded of the importance of learning about the Earth's past:

Understanding ancient life and the circumstances in which it flourished or died, helps us recognize our place in nature, and how our decisions affect all life on Earth.

Royal Tyrell Museum seen from viewing platform.

During our visit we spent several hours in the museum, pausing for lunch in the museum cafeteria. We ate inside but on a warmer day one can sit on the patio overlooking a pond. At the end of the day, before going back to our car, we climbed the stairs to the top of the hill across from the museum for a panoramic view of the Red Deer River Valley. The next morning we returned for a hike around the Badlands Interpretive Trail and a visit to the hoodoos. (See my blog post of May 15, 2023.)

To plan a visit to the Royal Tyrell Museum of Paleontology, visit the museum website.

Daspletosaurus skull.

DINOSAURS AND MORE at the Calgary Zoo, Alberta, Canada

Dinosaur at the Calgary Zoo with the skyline of the city in the distance.

How many zoos have both real wild animals AND dinosaurs? Not very many. But at the Wilder Calgary Zoo and Prehistoric Park in Canada you can not only see giraffes and hippos and a host of other wild animals, but also models of life-size dinosaurs lurking among the trees and bushes, just as they might have been in real life millions of years ago.

Like the sauropods of dinosaur times, giraffes use their long necks to reach their food.

On an overcast/occasionally rainy day in May, I visited the Calgary Zoo, dodging the raindrops along with groups of school children on class visits to see the animals. The zoo straddles the Bow River, with the Canadian Wilds (closed on the day of my visit) and Dinosaur Park sections on the same side as the entrance and parking area, and, on the other side of the pedestrian bridge, Destination Africa, the Dorothy Harvie Gardens, and Exploration Asia. All exhibits have both inside and outside viewing areas, making the zoo accessible in winter and on rainy days.

A wild Canada goose takes a stroll in the rain through the Calgary Zoo.

After buying my ticket, my first stop was at the Penguin Plunge where I watched penguins cavorting in their outdoor pool, perfectly at home on the cool, wet day. I then proceeded to Destination Africa to see the giraffes, hippos, porcupines, zebras, giraffes, ostriches and other African wildlife. 

Close-up encounter with a hippo in Destination Africa.

A group of children were clustered around the viewing window of the hippo tank, delighted by a young hippo who was just inches away.

Gorilla feet--note the black toenails!

While the enclosures give the animals plenty of personal space, they also allow visitors the occasional closeup encounter (on the other side of the glass.) One of the gorillas had chosen to nap so close to the window that you could see the details of its toes and fingers.

Lily pond in the conservatory.

By the time I got to the Dorothy Harvie Gardens, the rain was pouring down, so it was the ideal time to go inside and visit the conservatory. 

Swallowtail butterfly and chrysalis.

I n the same building I then went to the butterfly enclosure, where I watched a beautiful butterfly just emerging from its chrysalis.

Cryodrakon (wingspan 33 feet)

When the rain let up, I went back outside and followed the path to the Asian animals (gibbons, tapirs, a Bactrian camel and more) and then across a suspension bridge to the Prehistoric Park, where I was greeted by a giant pterosaur, whose wingspan in real life would have been the size of a small airplane. 

This dinosaur, whose name means "royal horned face" lived in Alberta 68-67 million years ago.

Dozens of dinosaurs line the paths through this part of the zoo, all with helpful signs and painted in bright patterns and colors. 

Corythosaurus grew to be 30 feet long.

We don’t yet know what color most dinosaurs were, but it is likely that their colors varied just like they do on the skin of lizards or the feathers of birds today.

Close, but of reach!

At the end of my visit I had a sandwich and cocoa in the zoo café near the entrance. The cafe is part of an extensive gift shop.  I enjoyed seeing all the animals at the Calgary Zoo, but what is truly unique about the zoo are the dinosaurs. With a little imagination one feels transported in time to millions of years ago when dinosaurs were alive.  

Getting there:

The zoo was a short taxi ride from my downtown hotel, but I could have taken the train. (There is a stop right at the zoo entrance.) I asked for a zoo map at the ticket window but found out that the zoo no longer provides paper maps. You can download a zoo map to your phone, or, as I did, refer to the large map signs posted at strategic spots around the zoo.

African porcupines.