“It then very rapidly became a fossil, it wasn’t scavenged by sharks or other predators,” says Henderson, adding the fossil is completely three dimensional, whereas most fossils are flattened by the earth over time.
“We’ve only got scraps of bones from this time period,” he said while adding this fossil is about 50 million years older than typical finds here in the south. It’s rare to find something this old in the province, he says. “It’s a really exceptional specimen.”
The Tyrrell believes this is a significant find because ankylosaurs are quite rare, and this may be the oldest dinosaur found in Alberta so far.
“We’ve got all the armor in place, and because it's 3-D it’s kept all its shape. We even have impressions of the scales. We’re going to have to be very careful when we prepare it to not lose any information,” said Henderson. “It’s really amazing.”
About 85 per cent remains at the Suncor site, but Henderson says it will probably take 2-3 years to chip away at the hard rock which surrounds us. This is the only find in the area.
Ankylosaurs were squat, plant-eating quadrupeds with powerful limbs and armour plating on their bodies. Their club-like tails were probably used for self-defence. Royal Tyrrell scientists will return to Fort McMurray this week to supervise the removal of the specimen and its transportation to the museum for further study. Henderson imagines it will take up to three days to remove the fossil.
“Suncor and its staff deserve a big thank you for recognizing this as a fossil and reporting it to us as quickly as they did,” said Andrew Neuman, Executive Director of the Royal Tyrrell Museum. “This is a great example of a company calling to report a find and it turning out to be something of potentially major significance.”
