75 million years is a long time to wait for a first helicopter ride.
However, that was the best way for a team from the Royal Tyrrell Museum to remove two specimens from Dinosaur Provincial Park to bring to the museum.
Dr. Donald Henderson led a field crew in the removal of a juvenile Gorgosaurus and the head of a Styracosaurus from their resting places in two isolated areas of the park. On Tuesday, March 30, the two specimens were airlifted by helicopter to awaiting trucks to be transported.
“It was the only practical way to get the things out,” Dr. Henderson told The Mail. “It was safest for the specimens and safest for the people working to get them out.”
Both specimens each weighed in the area of 800- 900 kilograms.
Henderson said the Gorgosaurus was uncovered in 2008 and last year they excavated it. While they were in the field, they heard reports of the Styracosaurus.
Darren Tanke of the Tyrrell first discovered the Gorgosaurus, which Henderson describes as an early Tyrannosaur. An amateur named James Woods, who was prospecting just outside of the park, discovered the Styracosaurus, a horned dinosaur.
Both finds are significant for research.
“The Gorgosaurus turned out to be a teenager. Young dinosaurs are rare, and young meat eaters are even rarer,” said Henderson, adding the Styracosaurus is also very rare.
Alpine Helicopter of Calgary was employed to do the lift. A private donor named Bill Spencer and the Dinosaur Research Institute funded the move.
As strange as the image of a modern helicopter carrying a specimen seems, Henderson says it is not uncommon. The first field expedition he participated in with the Tyrrell Museum in 1995 used helicopters. Gone are the days of pack horses.
Now that the specimens are back at the Tyrrell, preparation is expected to begin in October.
