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Dinosaur Provincial Park is located about 2 hours drive east of Calgary, Alberta, Canada or 48 kilometres northeast of the community of Brooks.
The park is situated in the valley of the Red Deer River, which is noted for its striking badland topography. It is well known for being one of the greatest dinosaur fossil beds in the world. Thirty-nine dinosaur species have been discovered here and more than 500 specimens have been removed and exhibited in museums across the globe. Its significance justified it becoming a World Heritage Site in 1980.
The sediments of Dinosaur Provincial Park span two million years and three formations: the terrestrial Oldman Formation at the base of the strata, the terrestrial Dinosaur Park Formation above, and the marine Bearpaw at the top. The Dinosaur Park Formation, which contains most of the fossils, was primarily laid down by large rivers in subtropical coastal lowlands along the western margin of the Western Interior Seaway. The formation dates to the Late Campanian, about 75 million years ago. The Dinosaur Park Formation spans about 1 million years.
Paleontology
Dinosaur Provincial Park preserves an extraordinarily diverse group of freshwater vertebrates. Fish include sharks, rays (such as the durophage Myledaphus), paddlefish, bowfins, gars, and teleosts. Amphibians include frogs, salamanders, and the extinct albanerpetontids. Reptiles include lizards (such as the large monitor Paleosaniwa), a wide range of turtles, crocodilians, and the fish-eating Champsosaurus.
The dinosaurs of the park are astonishingly diverse. They include:
The park boasts a very complex ecoysystem including cottonwoods. It's ecosystem is surrounded by prairies but is unique unto itself. Choruses of coyotes are common at dusk, as are the calls of nighthawks. Jackrabbits, deer, and pronghorn can all be seen in the park; rattlesnakes and garter snakes are present as well. Curlews and Canada geese can be seen in the spring and summer. Some of the most northern species of cactus, including Opuntia (prickly pear) and Pediocactus (pincushion) are found in the park as well.
History
Established in 1955 as part of Alberta's 50th Jubilee Year with the goal of protecting the fossil bone beds, the first warden was Roy Fowler, a farmer and amateur fossil hunter.
Until 1985 discoveries made in the park had to be shipped to museums throughout the world for scientific analysis and display, including the Royal Alberta Museum in Edmonton. This changed with the opening of the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology 100 kilometres upstream in the Midland Provincial Park near Drumheller.
