Cooperation between Syncrude and the Royal Tyrrell Museum has produced another spectacular fossil. On November 14 Maggy Horvath, a heavy equipment operator for Syncrude, uncovered the remains of a long-necked plesiosaur.
    “I think it’s great that I’m part of this,” said Horvath. “It felt pretty good to call my son and let him know that I found a prehistoric fossil.”
    Long-necked plesiosaurs, more accurately known as elasmosaurs, were a group of marine reptiles that lived from the late Triassic period, roughly 210 million years ago, to the end of the Cretaceous, 65 million years ago, when they went extinct.
    The group is characterized by having  a large body, four flippers, a small tail, long neck, and small head. They would have eaten a wide variety of marine life, including fish and cephalopods. The long neck would have helped them ambush and quickly strike at prey.
    Horvath exposed a series of vertebrae and stopped digging  in the immediate area. Horvath then told Syncrude’s geologist, who notified the Tyrrell Museum.
    Last week the Tyrrell Museum dispatched a team of four to the site. Dr. Don Henderson, Curator of Dinosaurs, Jim McCabe, Preparation Lab Supervisor, and technicians Mark Mitchell and Joe Sanchez assessed the find.
    The team searched the site thoroughly for more material, but as of yet have not found anything more. Working with Syncrude employees, the team has been able to isolate the large rock, estimated to weigh in excess of 6 tonnes, containing the fossil.
    The latest find is the tenth to have been discovered on Syncrude leases. Other remains include an ichthyosaur, a dolphin-like marine reptile that oozed oil, and a short-necked plesiosaur skull. Both are on display at the Tyrrell Museum in the Alberta Unearthed exhibit.
    The last elasmosaur from the same area was recovered ten years ago and was given the name Wapuskanectes. The specimen was only represented by the shoulder girdle and part of a front flipper.
     “We are hoping that this is another specimen of the same kind of plesiosaur,” explained Dr. Don Brinkman, Director of Preservation and Research at the Tyrrell Museum. “The new specimen is particularly important because it looks to be nearly complete.”
    The new specimen is roughly 110 million years old, about 2 millions years younger than the previous specimen.
    “It may be something new, it may be the same thing, we’ll find out when we get prepared,” said Brinkman.
    Preparation of the specimen may take some time. Weather conditions have prevented the Tyrrell team from bringing the specimen to the museum until spring. When conditions become favourable, museum crews will be able to stabilise the massive fossil and safety transport it to Drumheller.

    Last Thursday was a day dozens of women in the valley were looking forward to.
    December 1 signals the end of Movember. It is the day that their men could head to the bathroom, lather up and rid themselves of the soup strainer on their upper lip. No longer did these poor girls have to feel like they were kissing a caterpillar, watch their man itch, or live in fear that he might actually like it and heaven forbid, maybe even keep it.
    While dozens have volunteered this season, one of the most successful pushes came from employees with ATCO Electric. While the campaign was centred in the Drumheller area, they had a total of 51 participants from Drumheller, Hanna and Three Hills.
     While the totals are still rolling in, it is expected they will be over the $6,000 mark in their efforts to raise funds for men’s health issues.
    Patrick Charron was the captain of the ATCO Electric Movember team. This was the first time they took on the fraternal campaign.
    The kicked off the campaign at the beginning of the month with a breakfast, and a clean shave, and commenced the growing of the moustaches.
    From the outset, he said participants did not need to raise funds, and could just join in by growing their best Tom Selleck.
    “Just being a part of the team raises awareness, so that was great,” said Charron.
    Many did jump in to support the cause and collected sponsorship from family and friends.
    Last week the crew got together for a fundraiser at Flavourz Restaurant in Drumheller on Saturday, November 26. They were able to collect more than 30 items from local sponsors and held a dinner and silent auction. ATCO Electric chipped in with an iPod Touch and then held a Loonie Drop, which in itself raised about $400.
    “All and all, we raised about $1,500 for our team (at the event),” said Charron.
    The team put together a trophy, which was up for grabs for the “mo-champion". The winner was chosen based on a criteria which included the state of the ‘stache, donations collected and participation. Dustin Andrew, who raised more than $1,200 alone, was presented the trophy on Thursday.
    Charron says he is grateful to ATCO Electric, which was supportive of the team and allowed him time to work on the campaign. ATCO also has an employee volunteer program called ‘Time to Give,’ and Charron’s volunteer efforts on another project allowed him to make a donation to Movember.