Dinosaur Provincial Park

Dinosaur Provincial Park
Dinosaur Provincial Park
	Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation
Natural Monument)
Provincial Park of Alberta	1955
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Type	Natural
Criteria	vii, viii
Designated	1979 (3rd session)
Reference no.	71
Country	Canada
Region	Europe and North America
	Location of Dinosaur Provincial Park in Alberta

Dinosaur Provincial Park is a

Calgary, Alberta, Canada; or 48 kilometres (30 mi), about a half-hour drive northeast of Brooks

.

The park is situated in the

carnivorous dinosaurs, justified its becoming a World Heritage Site

in 1979.

Dinosaur Provincial Park Visitor Centre

The Dinosaur Provincial Park Visitor Centre features exhibits about dinosaurs, fossils, and the geology and natural history of the park. There is a video theatre, fossil prep lab area, and a gift shop. Public programs are offered in the summer.

John Ware's Cabin is a restored early 20th century cabin that was used by

African-American cowboy and important figure in Alberta's ranching history. The cabin is located near the visitor centre and is open on select days in the summer.^[1]

History

Established on June 27, 1955 as part of Alberta's 50th Jubilee Year with the goal of protecting the fossil beds, the first warden was Roy Fowler (1902-1975), a farmer and amateur fossil hunter.

The park was established as a

riparian habitats, and for the international importance of the fossils

found there.

Until 1985, discoveries made in the park had to be shipped to museums throughout the world for scientific analysis and display, including the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto in Ontario, the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa in Ontario, and the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, New York State. This changed with the opening of the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology 100 kilometres upstream in Midland Provincial Park adjacent to Drumheller.

Nature

The park protects a very complex ecosystem including three communities: prairie grasslands, badlands, and riverside

Canada geese are among the 165 bird species that can be seen in the spring and summer. Some of the most northern species of cactus, including Opuntia (prickly pear) and Pediocactus

(pincushion) can be observed in full bloom during the later half of June.

Geology

The

formations. The top of the terrestrial Oldman Formation, which outcrops at the base of the sequence, is the oldest. It is overlain by a complete section of the terrestrial Dinosaur Park Formation, which is in turn overlain by the base of the marine Bearpaw Formation. The Dinosaur Park Formation, which contains most of the articulated dinosaur skeletons, was laid down between about 76.5 and 74.8 million years ago. It was deposited in floodplain and coastal plain environments by river systems that flowed eastward and southeastward to the Western Interior Seaway.^[2]

Paleontology

Dinosaur Provincial Park preserves an extraordinarily diverse group of freshwater vertebrates. Fish include

placental, marsupial, and multituberculate mammals.^[2]

Plant fossils from the park and surrounding area include

conifers; and leaves of Ginkgo, Cercidiphyllum, Platanus, a Pistia-like aquatic plant, and others.^[3] A rich assemblage of fossil pollen and spores has also been described.^[4]

The dinosaurs of the park are astonishingly diverse. They include:

Ceratopsia

Leptoceratops sp.
Centrosaurus apertus
Coronosaurus brinkmani
Styracosaurus albertensis
Pachyrhinosaurus
Chasmosaurus belli, C. russelli
Vagaceratops irvinensis

Hadrosauridae

Corythosaurus casuarius
Gryposaurus notabilis, G. incurvimanus
Lambeosaurus lambei, L. magnicristatus
Prosaurolophus maximus
Parasaurolophus walkeri

Ankylosauria

Hypsilophodontidae

Orodromeus

Pachycephalosauria

Stegoceras

Tyrannosauridae

Daspletosaurus torosus
Gorgosaurus libratus

Ornithomimidae

Ornithomimus
Struthiomimus
Rativates
new ornithomimid species A

Caenagnathidae

Chirostenotes pergracilis
Chirostenotes elegans
Chirostenotes collinsi

Dromaeosauridae

Dromaeosaurus albertensis
Saurornitholestes
Hesperonychus elizabethae
?new dromaeosaur species A
?new dromaeosaur species B

Troodontidae

Troodon
new troodontid species A

Classification Uncertain

Ricardoestesia
gilmorei

Birds such as

placentals and multituberculate

mammals scurried underfoot.

IUGS geological heritage site

In respect of it being the 'world's most abundant and diverse dinosaur locality, yielding more than 166 vertebrate taxa, including 51 species of non-avian dinosaurs', the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) included the 'Dinosaur Provincial Park' in its assemblage of 100 'geological heritage sites' around the world in a listing published in October 2022. The organisation defines an IUGS Geological Heritage Site as 'a key place with geological elements and/or processes of international scientific relevance, used as a reference, and/or with a substantial contribution to the development of geological sciences through history.'^[5]

Gallery

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References

^ "Travel Article: Dinosaur Provincial Park". Archived from the original on 2011-07-18. Retrieved 2009-11-11.
^ ^a ^b Currie, P.J., and Koppelhus, E.B. (eds). 2005. Dinosaur Provincial Park: A Spectacular Ancient Ecosystem Revealed. Indiana University Press: Bloomington and Indianapolis, 648 p.
^ Koppelhus, E.B. 2005. Paleobotany. In: Currie, P.J., and Koppelhus, E.B. (eds), Dinosaur Provincial Park: A Spectacular Ancient Ecosystem Revealed. Indiana University Press: Bloomington and Indianapolis, 131-138.
^ Braman, D.R., and Koppelhus, E.B. 2005. Campanian palynomorphs. In: Currie, P.J., and Koppelhus, E.B. (eds), Dinosaur Provincial Park: A Spectacular Ancient Ecosystem Revealed. Indiana University Press: Bloomington and Indianapolis, 101-130.
^ "The First 100 IUGS Geological Heritage Sites" (PDF). IUGS International Commission on Geoheritage. IUGS. Retrieved 13 November 2022.

External links

[1] "Travel Article: Dinosaur Provincial Park". Archived from the original on 2011-07-18. Retrieved 2009-11-11.

[Currie2005-2] Currie, P.J., and Koppelhus, E.B. (eds). 2005. Dinosaur Provincial Park: A Spectacular Ancient Ecosystem Revealed. Indiana University Press: Bloomington and Indianapolis, 648 p.

[3] Koppelhus, E.B. 2005. Paleobotany. In: Currie, P.J., and Koppelhus, E.B. (eds), Dinosaur Provincial Park: A Spectacular Ancient Ecosystem Revealed. Indiana University Press: Bloomington and Indianapolis, 131-138.

[4] Braman, D.R., and Koppelhus, E.B. 2005. Campanian palynomorphs. In: Currie, P.J., and Koppelhus, E.B. (eds), Dinosaur Provincial Park: A Spectacular Ancient Ecosystem Revealed. Indiana University Press: Bloomington and Indianapolis, 101-130.

[5] "The First 100 IUGS Geological Heritage Sites" (PDF). IUGS International Commission on Geoheritage. IUGS. Retrieved 13 November 2022.

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