Alberta pipeline workers uncover dinosaur fossil

Earlier this week, Turmaline Oil Corp., pipeline crew uncovered a piece of intact fossilised dinosaur. The fossil was found buried about 1.5 m deep in the Saddle Hills area southwest of Spirit River, Alberta.

Workers were digging into the ground when a backhoe operator scraped a hard object. The fossil skeleton is of the creature’s tail, and experts believe the prehistoric creature may have been up to 10 m in size. Palaeontologist Matthew Vavrek called the find “a significant fossil discovery.”

Construction on the site has come to a halt while a crew of specialists from the Phillip J.Currie and Royal Tyrell museums, Alberta, work on moving the fossil. The challenge now is to carefully recover the fossil, and perhaps find other parts to help determine the type of dinosaur.

Executive director of the Royal Tyrell museum, Andy Neuman, said “I think what’s really the most significant thing about the story is that this pipeline company that encountered this animal contacted the appropriate authorities and were a good, corporate responsible company by doing what is not only required, but what they should do.”

Edited from various sources by Hannah Priestley-Eaton

Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/business-news/04102013/alberta_pipeline_workers_uncover_dinosaur_fossil/