Researchers in Saskatchewan have unearthed two dinosaur fossil specimens previously unknown in the province, offering new insights into the region’s ecosystem some 75 million years ago.
A team of paleontologists and students from McGill University documented the first fossil specimens of the horned Centrosaurus and the parrot-beaked Citipes elegans while participating in a paleontology field course in Saskatchewan Landing Provincial Park along the South Saskatchewan River.
“It was always very likely to be found nearby, but the presence of Citipes elegans, a small, parrot-beaked dinosaur, was more unexpected,” he added.
The fossils were found at a site called Lake Diefenbaker Bonebed, where researchers also found “a rare mix of dinosaur and marine fossils.” They say the discovery provides information on the ecosystem during the Late Cretaceous period, when North America was divided by an inland sea, known as the Western Interior Seaway. At its peak, that inland sea was more than 3,000 kilometres long, nearly 1,000 kilometres wide, and 760 metres deep.
While Alberta’s fossils have provided insights into inland ecosystems of that ancient period, the Saskatchewan findings indicate a coastal habitat.
“[The findings show] how large terrestrial dinosaurs like Centrosaurus shared space with marine animals in a mosaic of estuaries and barrier islands,” the researchers said.