Dinosaurs Found in Canada

At least 88 dinosaur species have been found in what is now Canada. While most fossils are found in Alberta, traces of dinosaurs have been found in several provinces and territories across the country. Here are just a few examples.

Borealopelta

Borealopelta lived 112 million years ago during the Early Cretaceous period. These plant-eating dinosaurs were 5 to 6 m long with short, thick limbs. The species Borealopelta markmitchelli was named in honour of Mark Mitchell, a Royal Tyrrell Museum technician who spent 7,000 hours preparing the only known specimen. This specimen, found in northeastern Alberta, is the best-preserved fossil of an armoured dinosaur in the world.

Triceratops

The genus Triceratops lived in the Late Cretaceous period, 68 to 66 million years ago. Triceratops fossils are more commonly found in the United States but have been discovered in Alberta and Saskatchewan. These plant eaters could grow to 8 or 9 m in length, and their heads could weigh 450 kg, accounting for up to a third of their bodies. Their scales could be up to 10 cm wide.

Ornithomimus

Ornithomimus edmontonicus lived in what is now Alberta, 72.6 to 69.6 million years ago. These ostrich-like animals were up to 3.8 m long. Though their close relatives were meat eaters, the toothless beaks of Ornithomimus suggest they ate plants. Ornithomimus were covered in primitive down-like feathers. These feathers were first discovered by François Therrien of the Royal Tyrrell Museum.

Edmontosaurus

Two species of this duck-billed, plant-eating dinosaur lived between 73.1 and 66 million years ago. The older species, Edmontosaurus regalis, lived in what is now Alberta, while the more recent Edmontosaurus annectens was found in Saskatchewan and several US states. Edmontosaurus could grow up to 13 m long and weighed 7.5 tonnes. The first specimen was discovered in 1912. It was the first dinosaur to be mounted on display in Canada.

Thanatotheristes

The name Thanatotheristes means “reaper of death.” This genus of top predators lived 79.5 million years ago, making it the oldest tyrannosaur in Canada. Known only from a fragmented skull found in Bow River, Alberta, it was likely 10 m long, the length of a school bus, and weighed between 1.3 and 2.5 tonnes. Thanatotheristes was initially misidentified as another species, Daspletosaurus, but in 2018 Jared Voris, a graduate student at the University of Calgary, determined it was in fact a new species.

These are just a few of the fascinating dinosaurs that have been uncovered in Canada. Visit The Canadian Encyclopedia for more.