Are These Really Dinosaur Remains?

I was about eighteen when I visited Drumheller, Alberta for the first time.  It was an experience I will never forget.  For a moment, I was stepping back into the Cretaceous period staring at the splendor of ancient Hoodoo pillars cut from dry land and sifting through sand to catch a glimpse of prehistoric dinosaur fossils. For a moment, I was stepping into a scene from The Flintstones walking on hand-scraped earth and skirting the world's largest T-Rex. For a moment, I was a wide-eyed kid again searching for answers to the most complex palaeontological questions. 

My friends and I were visiting a local church when we were invited to tour the backyard of a man from the congregation. Most men would be embarrassed to have visitors see an uprooted yard, but this man was excited!  And he had every reason to be. After all, this man was standing on a gold mine. Not literally, of course, but close enough.  What he had found was not unheard of in Drumheller, but it took him by surprise. One day, while doing yard-work, he had found what appeared to be fossilized remains of ancient dinosaurs. Too good to be true?  Maybe, but the professionals were called in and proved his theory correct.  So, being the innocent teenager that I was, I took the man aside and asked, "Can I take some of these fossils home with me?"  He reached down and picked-up a handful of bone-like remains and said, "This is what they are letting me keep, but you can have a few pieces."  I jumped at the opportunity - because - well....not everyone can say they own a piece of history like this....right?!

Are These Really Dinosaur Remains?

As it turns out, I am not sure if these pieces hold any historic value, but it's still fun to tell the story.  I have held onto these "remains" for 20 years but still I am no closer to the truth.  Maybe you can tell me if they are, indeed, thousands of years old.  According to my eight year old son, they belong to a Velociraptor or maybe a Pterodactyl. Or maybe, just maybe, they belong to the Albertosaurus, discovered in 1884 and appropriately named after Alberta became a province in 1905.

Like a lot of kids, I wanted to be an archaeologist.  I wanted to travel the world and dust away layers of sediment until I found the one.  That was until I was 15 years old and saw Jurassic Park and was scared away from any and all things dinosaur!

 

But my little man is different.  He loves the Jurassic movies and he loves learning about different species of dinosaurs. He may be little, but like his daddy, he is a scientist.  He knows more about animals than any of us and if you try to pull the wool over his eyes he will correct you.  I love that about him.  I love that he loves science!

Final Homework for 2nd Grade: WRITE A STORY ABOUT ANYTHING

And here is my plug.  If you are wondering where to go for your summer vacation, head to Alberta.  Yes, I may be a little bias seeing it is my homeland, but there is so much to experience in and around the major cities.  From The World Waterpark in the famous West Edmonton Mall, to the world's richest tournament style rodeo The Calgary Stampede, to the dinosaur capital of the world, Drumheller, there is so much to see and learn.  So get out there, explore and have fun!