Tyrannousaurid redux, many links

Blue sky over the "Hoodoos" ...  the hills of Alberta's signature badlands

I posted about the subject of dinosaurs some years ago after we had taken our Golden Retriever, Lindy, to help my husband explore Dinosaur Provincial Park near the town of Patricia, Alberta. 

ALBERTOSAURUS  SARCOPHAGUS

On the world stage, Canada is often considered a small country because of our relatively sparse human population despite our large land mass. However, Canada has been the site of some very big things!

Many fossils have been found of 
DINOSAURS
who once roamed this countryside! 

Although not as famous as its cousin 'Rex,' Alberta's gargantuan lizard, Albertosaurus, is a genus of tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived in western North America during the late Cretaceous Period, about 70 million years ago.

The type species, Albertosaurus Sarcophagus, was restricted in range to the modern-day Canadian province of Alberta, which gives the genus its named.
Scientists, however, disagree on the content of the genus, with some of them recognizing Gorgosaurus libratus as a second species.

As a tyrannosaurid, Albertosaurus was a bipedal predator with tiny, two-fingered hands and a massive head with dozens of large, sharp teeth.

It was probably at the top of the food chain in its local ecosystem. Although relatively large for a theropod, Albertosaurus was much smaller than its more famous relative Tyrannosaurus, probably weighing less than 2 metric tons.

I've been posting so much lately about the dangers of pollution on our planet that I can't help wondering...what if we suffer the same kind of fate as the dinosaur? Would we be humanity extinctus?

Drumheller, Alberta,
Dinosaur Museum

Since the first discovery in 1884, fossils of more than 30 individuals have been recovered, providing scientists with a more detailed knowledge of Albertosaurus anatomy than anything available for other tyrannosaurids.

The discovery of 26 individuals at one site provides evidence of pack behaviour and allows students of ontogeny and population biology opportunities which are impossible with lesser-known dinosaurs. 

POSTING FOR FIONA'S

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