NEWS RELEASE
Historic Dinosaur Fossil Discovery at Horseshoe Canyon
November 6, 2023 – On the 13th and 19th of October 2023, staff from Kneehill County’s Parks & Agriculture department worked in tandem with experts from the Royal Tyrell Museum of Palaeontology to carefully unearth large dinosaur fossils from Horseshoe Canyon—a site owned and operated in part by Kneehill County and the Nature Conservancy of Canada.
This event marks the second successful fossil recovery facilitated by Kneehill County staff, following a previous endeavour in October 2022. The fossils recovered this time have been identified as belonging to an adult hadrosaur, known as the duckbilled dinosaur, which roamed the earth around 69 million years ago. The find is especially remarkable as it provides rare insights into a period of North America's prehistoric life that remains largely a mystery, particularly in what is now Alberta.
Visitors to Horseshoe Canyon continue to play a vital role in discovering new fossils. If you stumble on a fossil:
- Respect the site: Leave the fossil undisturbed in its original location
- Document the find: Take clear photos of the fossil, including an object for scale.
- Note the location: Use GPS coordinates to record the precise location if possible.
- Report your discovery: Contact the Royal Tyrell Museum at tyrell.fossilreport@gov.ab.ca, or contact the Kneehill County Parks department, 403-443-5541.
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For media inquiries, please contact:
Kneehill County
Communications Department
403-443-5541
Nature Conservancy of Canada
Sean Feagan, Media & Communications Coordinator
587-707-60435
sean.feagan@natureconservancy.ca