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Last updateThu, 03 Oct 2024 12pm

On your mark!

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The Village of Carbon was buzzing with activity over the weekend of June 25 to June 27 as the village held their annual Sports Day.
In 2020 the annual weekend sporting event-which normally takes place the first weekend of June-was cancelled due to COVID restrictions. With restrictions easing on outdoor gatherings and group sports activities this year, the annual event was able to go ahead.
Along with the regular baseball tournament, the weekend’s activities consisted of a parade, disc golf demonstration with Fire Coulee Discs, a pop-up farmers market, and the Carbon Legion #161 Soapbox Derby hosted by Brian and Andrea McHugh of the Carbon Bottle Depot.
Winners of the Soapbox Derby were, in the 7 to 12 class, tied for first place Kayden and Chance, with third place going to Evan; in the 13 to 17 class winners were first place Kaleb, second place Joshua, and third place Ty. First place in the adult class went to Dylan--who also took best in show--in the Iron Maiden car, second place went to Randin in the ATCO Storm car, and third place went to Chris in the Lion’s car.
A total of 10 baseball teams played throughout the weekend, though organizer Kelly Steen says they normally have 16 teams.
In the A-event, the Young Gunners team took first place, with the Hay Makers taking second. For the B-event first place went to Broke Bat Mountain; Relatively Good took second. C-event saw Sons of Pitches take first, with Back Door Sliders coming in second.


Drumheller area man arrested following flight from police

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A Drumheller area man was arrested following an attempted traffic stop and brief flight from police.
On Sunday, June 20, 2021 at approximately 5:10 p.m., Drumheller RCMP attempted a traffic stop with a vehicle at 7 Avenue S.E. The vehicle did not stop and fled from police at a high rate of speed through a busy grocery store parking lot.
The vehicle was located a short time later, just south of Drumheller, on Highway 9. Drumheller RCMP attempted to arrest the driver, who was still in the vehicle.
The driver, identified as 31 year old Justin Lenfesty of the Drumheller area, fled on foot into a nearby field.
Drumheller RCMP, along with the assistance of RCMP Police Dog Services, located and arrested Lenfesty at approximately 6:15 p.m.
Lenfesty is facing the following Criminal Code offences: flight from police, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, resist/obstruct peace officer, failing to comply with a release order condition.
Lenfesty was held for a Judicial Interim Release hearing and was released on a Release Order with conditions and will appear in provincial court in Drumheller on Friday, July 9.

Tyrrell research explores tyrannosaur feeding behaviours

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Researchers at the Royal Tyrrell Museum now have more understanding of the feeding behaviours of tyrannosaurs and how they changed throughout their lifetime.
A new study published in the Canadian Journal of Earth Scientists, led by Dr. François Therrien, Curator of Dinosaur Palaeoecology at the Royal Tyrrell Museum, studied the jawbones, from Albertosaurus sarcophagus and Gorgosaurus libratus. The study was comprehensive because of the Tyrrell’s extensive collection of specimens that represents all the age groups of tyrannosaurs.
“The tyrannosaurs are among the most famous and most popular dinosaur species and here in Alberta, we are lucky to have an amazing fossil record of tyrannosaurs. We have five different species known, but we also have so many fossils, that actually for some species, we have a full record of their entire lifespan; from the smallest individuals with a jaw length of about 30 centimetres, all the way to adults who have a skull length of a metre,” said Therrien. “Now with a full spectrum of fossils showing a full spectrum of growth that allows us to look at details of how the changes during life happened.”
Of the specimens studied, 23 belonged to Gorgosaurus libratus, and 12 belonged to Albertosaurus sarcophagus. By measuring various aspects of the jaws and teeth, the researchers were able to calculate the biomechanical properties of the jaws, providing insights into feeding adaptations, and enabling them to estimate bite force.
“We have known for years that baby or young tyrannosaurs were very different from their adult counterparts. The young ones were very lightly built, with long legs, probably runners, and fragile -- delicate. But then the adults were very big lumbering beasts, slow walking,” he explains.
The younger dinosaur jaws showed narrow blade-like teeth, ideal for slashing. However at about the age of 11, as they enter a sub-adult stage of their life, teeth growth became thicker and more robust. The change in teeth coincided with the increase of bite force.
According to a release, the researchers interpreted these lines of evidence as indicating a dietary change occurred as tyrannosaurs grew. Juvenile tyrannosaurs would have fed on small prey, easy to catch but still capable of putting up a fight against a small predator. Once individuals reached about 11 years of age, they shifted to a diet based largely on large herbivores, including hadrosaurs and ceratopsians, animals that required stronger teeth and a stronger bite to pierce through their thick skin, subdue them, and possibly crack bones.
“We knew there were two extremes, the juveniles were different from the adults, but we didn’t know how fast or at what time that transition from one type of predator to the other happened,” he said.


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