New research documenting the first multispecies tracksite discovered in Dinosaur Provincial Park provides evidence of herding behaviour in ceratopsians, and suggests an ankylosaur might have been part of the herd. Dinosaur Provincial Park has yielded hundreds of dinosaur skulls and skeletons after more than a century of fieldwork. The Park holds one of the most … Continue reading First Multispecies Tracksite Discovered in Dinosaur Provincial Park
Welcome to Alberta’s palaeontological hall of fame! Meet the world’s best-preserved armoured dinosaur; a gorgosaur with prey fossilized in its stomach; the first evidence of feathered dinosaurs in North America; Canada’s first dinosaur eggs with embryos preserved inside them; and more. The opening of the new Breakthroughs exhibit kicks off a year of celebrations of … Continue reading Breakthroughs: First. Best. Only
New research led by Dr. Caleb Brown, Curator of Dinosaur Systematics & Evolution at the Royal Tyrrell Museum, reveals a bite mark found in a fossil neck vertebra of a juvenile pterosaur from the Cretaceous of Alberta. Pterosaurs were flying reptiles that lived from the Late Triassic (~220 million years ago) until the end of … Continue reading Juvenile Pterosaur Fossil with a Bite Mark Discovered
The Royal Tyrrell Museum’s Fossils in Focus exhibit highlights current research and exceptional fossils from our vast collection. Did you know that less than 1% of the Museum’s collection is on display at any given time? The latest installation of Fossils in Focus includes a mosasaur skull, a vertebra from an animal known as the … Continue reading 2024 Fossils in Focus—New Research, New Discoveries
Andre Gogol’s love of palaeontology began with a childhood spent exploring Alberta’s badlands. As a youngster, he imagined fossils as beautiful and terrifying creatures that might rise from the ground one day to walk the land again. Andre has tried to convey this lifelike quality in a series of photographs featuring specimens from the Royal … Continue reading Perspectives 2024 – Fossil Photography by Andre Gogol
The Royal Tyrrell Museum has completely redeveloped our Precambrian and Cambrian galleries. Our new First Life exhibit, opened in May 2024, explains how life evolved—from its earliest beginnings, to the major diversification of complex life forms known as the Cambrian Explosion. What Will Visitors Experience? Meet some of the oldest known fossils, including the earliest … Continue reading First Life: Origins of Biodiversity
There are more than two million fossils in the Royal Tyrrell Museum’s Collections—and that number is growing. Every year, staff excavate and collect new fossils that are found through fieldwork, public finds, and industry reports. Although our Collection includes amazing fossils spanning roughly 3.5 billion years of Earth’s history, fossils are incredibly rare. Only a … Continue reading How Fossils Form
As we set out on a new year and new adventures, we’re looking back on a few of the Royal Tyrrell Museum’s many 2023 highlights—with grateful thanks to everyone who supports our work. 2023 At A Glance Welcomed 526,340 visitors Published 17 peer-reviewed scientific papers Delivered public programs to 31,400+ onsite participants Reached 11,000 participants … Continue reading What a Year! 2023 Highlights
Exciting research reveals new information about the diet of tyrannosaurs, based on an extraordinary specimen that contains the last meal of a young meat-eating dinosaur. It’s the first time that stomach contents have been found preserved in place in a fossilized tyrannosaur. A well-preserved Gorgosaurus libratus specimen was found by Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology … Continue reading A Young Tyrannosaur’s Last Meal
The Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology collects thousands of fossils each year. Staff locate some of these while conducting targeted fieldwork, whereas other fossils are found and reported to us by members of the public. What exactly happens when a fossil is discovered? The answer is different for every specimen. Although most fossils are underground … Continue reading Incredible Fossils Added to Royal Tyrrell Museum Collection
Did you know that less than 1% of the Royal Tyrrell Museum’s collection is on display at any given time? Temporary exhibits, like Fossils in Focus, allow us to highlight current research and exceptional fossils from our vast collection. The latest installation of Fossils in Focus includes Canada’s best-preserved Triceratops skull, the first trackways left … Continue reading 2023 Fossils in Focus—Alberta’s Best
The best-preserved, most complete Triceratops skull known from Canada is now on display for the first time. This extraordinary specimen, collected and prepared by the Royal Tyrrell Museum, has been unveiled as part of the Museum’s new Fossils in Focus exhibit. The ceratopsians are a group of beaked plant-eating dinosaurs that lived during the Cretaceous … Continue reading ‘Calli’: Canada’s Best Triceratops
Modern birds are known as the last living dinosaurs, because they survived the Cretaceous-Palaeogene extinction event 66 million years ago that eliminated all non-avian dinosaurs. But today’s birds are a far cry from the large, meat-eating theropods that once roamed the Earth. The evolutionary transition from non-avian dinosaurs to birds involved several anatomical, biomechanical, and … Continue reading Troodon: Where Bird Meets Reptile on the Evolutionary Tree
The nodosaur Borealopelta markmitchelli is the world’s best-preserved armoured dinosaur. This amazing specimen has helped answer many important questions about dinosaur biology and behaviour. Now, new research supports the theory that the nodosaur was a picky eater. Uniquely, Borealopelta was preserved with a “cololite”—a distinct mass found within the dinosaur’s stomach cavity. Cololites (not to … Continue reading Borealopelta: A Selective Herbivore
During a recent conversation with the Dutch palaeoartist Esther van Hulsen, our Museum learned about an art project 95 million years in the making. Esther had read about drawings created by Elizabeth Philpot, friend of the famous fossil collector Mary Anning, using fossilized ink sacs of fossil belemnites that Anning had collected in the 1800s. … Continue reading The Ink-thyosaur: Painting a Picture of Alberta’s Past
Dinosaur Provincial Park in Alberta, Canada is among the world’s richest locations for dinosaur fossils. The UNESCO World Heritage Site boasts more than 40 species of dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous, roughly 77 – 75 million years ago. Fossil hunters have been collecting specimens from this area for over a century. Each year, staff from … Continue reading Skin Deep: How a Unique Fossil Find Brought Together an International Team
The Royal Tyrrell Museum has been home to some of the world’s most remarkable fossil specimens for decades, but this year, it’s official! Our Museum is now recognized by Guinness World Records for holding five record titles within our vast collection. Learn about these amazing specimens below! Albertonectes vanderveldei (TMP2007.011.0001) Longest Neck Ever (Based on … Continue reading Record-breaking Specimens of the Royal Tyrrell Museum
When is a rock a fossil? When is a fossil a rock? When is a bone not a fossil? Every year, people make many interesting discoveries while hiking in the badlands, mountains, and river valleys of Alberta. Some of these finds turn out to be significant fossils, but some are pseudofossils. A pseudofossil is a … Continue reading FOSSIL OR NOT?