Dinosaur, fossil experts gather at Paleo 2012
Did dome-headed dinos butt heads? Can you tell one duck-billed dinosaur from another solely by skin impressions preserved in rock? What were the ankylosaurs of Mongolia and China like?
These are some of the questions on the table at Paleo 2012, an all-day symposium on Saturday, March 17 featuring seven speakers from the Royal Tyrrell Museum, the University of Alberta and the Royal Ontario Museum.
This free event is open to everyone, young or old, amateur or professional. The only requirement? An interest in dinosaurs and fossils.
The Alberta Palaeontological Society is one of the main groups sponsoring the conference.
The society has been around for more than 25 years. It promotes "the science of paleontology" through monthly meetings, field trips, the yearly symposium and the maintenance of a fossil collection.
Dan Quinsey - or "Dino Dan" as he is called - has been with the society for more than 12 years. While his day job is in automotive administration, his passion is paleontology. So much so that he has collected fossils for the Royal Tyrrell Museum and has written a guide book called Moose Mountain, Alberta: Exploring the Natural History of Canyon Creek and Area.
He likens paleontology to police work.
"Paleontology is like investigating a crime scene, except all the evidence is millions of years old and all the witnesses are dead," Quinsey says. His favourite fossils are those that "tell a story," such as dinosaur bones with bite marks, or bones that were once broken and then healed.
While the T. rexs of the fossil world get all the attention, Quinsey says there's a lot more to the field than dinosaur bones.
"Fossils do not necessarily mean dinosaur bones.
There are plants, insects, vertebrates, invertebrates. Alberta was once a shallow sea, so there are lots of trilobites, ammonites and fossils of other sea creatures," he adds. In fact, Alberta's official fossil is fossilized wood.
While the lectures at Paleo 2012 will focus on dinosaurs, other aspects of palaeontology will be covered through a wide variety of poster displays.
And, of course, there will be fossils on display for those who want a "handson" experience.
One might think with all the widespread interest in dinosaurs, there is little left to be discovered.
The Alberta Palaeontological Society's Mona Marsovsky, however, says that thinking is completely inaccurate.
"There's still a lot more to learn and remote areas that have not yet been explored," she says.
Just last year, in fact, an oilsands worker dug up an ankylosaur north of Fort McMurray. (The ankylosaur is a squat, armoured dino, with a club-like tail.)
"It's one of the earliest ankylosaurs ever uncovered," Marsovsky says.
"Alberta is one of the richest places in Canada to find dinosaur bones," says Marsovsky, citing the area's geographical history as particularly conducive for bone preservation.
"We were on the edge of a seaway. Alberta was beachfront property, which made for good conditions for preserving fossils," she explains.
The keynote speaker at Paleo 2012 is the Royal Ontario Museum's David Evans. He will speak about dome-headed dinosaurs from Alberta.
Marsovsky describes them as being a bit smaller than a person, with huge thick skulls.
"It's an area that has been difficult to study, because we don't have a lot of specimens. We're tying to determine how the different specimens are related," she says.
Complementing Evans' lecture will be a talk on the use of engineering models to try and establish if dome-headed dinos might have butted heads, like mountain sheep.
Another speaker will talk about the ankylosaurs of Asia, an area - along with Antarctica - in which Marsovsky says new species of dinosaurs are "always" being discovered.
Quinsey has some advice for would-be paleontologists, and he says attending Paleo 2012 is a good place to start.
"You learn by doing, being involved, going to talks," he says.
"Read as much as possible. Visit the Tyrell Museum so you understand what you are looking for.
Take a field trip with the APS. Don't be afraid to ask questions."
And when it comes to actually collecting fossils, there are a few rules to follow.
You can't collect on protected land, such as Dinosaur Provincial Park. You can't dig for fossils; you can only gather specimens from the land's surface. And if you are on private property, you need the owner's permission.
Paleo 2012 takes place Saturday, March 17 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. All the lectures are in the Jenkins Theatre at Mount Royal University.
For more information, visit albertapaleo.org.
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
These are some of the questions on the table at Paleo 2012, an all-day symposium on Saturday, March 17 featuring seven speakers from the Royal Tyrrell Museum, the University of Alberta and the Royal Ontario Museum.
This free event is open to everyone, young or old, amateur or professional. The only requirement? An interest in dinosaurs and fossils.
The Alberta Palaeontological Society is one of the main groups sponsoring the conference.
The society has been around for more than 25 years. It promotes "the science of paleontology" through monthly meetings, field trips, the yearly symposium and the maintenance of a fossil collection.
Dan Quinsey - or "Dino Dan" as he is called - has been with the society for more than 12 years. While his day job is in automotive administration, his passion is paleontology. So much so that he has collected fossils for the Royal Tyrrell Museum and has written a guide book called Moose Mountain, Alberta: Exploring the Natural History of Canyon Creek and Area.
He likens paleontology to police work.
"Paleontology is like investigating a crime scene, except all the evidence is millions of years old and all the witnesses are dead," Quinsey says. His favourite fossils are those that "tell a story," such as dinosaur bones with bite marks, or bones that were once broken and then healed.
While the T. rexs of the fossil world get all the attention, Quinsey says there's a lot more to the field than dinosaur bones.
"Fossils do not necessarily mean dinosaur bones.
There are plants, insects, vertebrates, invertebrates. Alberta was once a shallow sea, so there are lots of trilobites, ammonites and fossils of other sea creatures," he adds. In fact, Alberta's official fossil is fossilized wood.
While the lectures at Paleo 2012 will focus on dinosaurs, other aspects of palaeontology will be covered through a wide variety of poster displays.
And, of course, there will be fossils on display for those who want a "handson" experience.
One might think with all the widespread interest in dinosaurs, there is little left to be discovered.
The Alberta Palaeontological Society's Mona Marsovsky, however, says that thinking is completely inaccurate.
"There's still a lot more to learn and remote areas that have not yet been explored," she says.
Just last year, in fact, an oilsands worker dug up an ankylosaur north of Fort McMurray. (The ankylosaur is a squat, armoured dino, with a club-like tail.)
"It's one of the earliest ankylosaurs ever uncovered," Marsovsky says.
"Alberta is one of the richest places in Canada to find dinosaur bones," says Marsovsky, citing the area's geographical history as particularly conducive for bone preservation.
"We were on the edge of a seaway. Alberta was beachfront property, which made for good conditions for preserving fossils," she explains.
The keynote speaker at Paleo 2012 is the Royal Ontario Museum's David Evans. He will speak about dome-headed dinosaurs from Alberta.
Marsovsky describes them as being a bit smaller than a person, with huge thick skulls.
"It's an area that has been difficult to study, because we don't have a lot of specimens. We're tying to determine how the different specimens are related," she says.
Complementing Evans' lecture will be a talk on the use of engineering models to try and establish if dome-headed dinos might have butted heads, like mountain sheep.
Another speaker will talk about the ankylosaurs of Asia, an area - along with Antarctica - in which Marsovsky says new species of dinosaurs are "always" being discovered.
Quinsey has some advice for would-be paleontologists, and he says attending Paleo 2012 is a good place to start.
"You learn by doing, being involved, going to talks," he says.
"Read as much as possible. Visit the Tyrell Museum so you understand what you are looking for.
Take a field trip with the APS. Don't be afraid to ask questions."
And when it comes to actually collecting fossils, there are a few rules to follow.
You can't collect on protected land, such as Dinosaur Provincial Park. You can't dig for fossils; you can only gather specimens from the land's surface. And if you are on private property, you need the owner's permission.
Paleo 2012 takes place Saturday, March 17 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. All the lectures are in the Jenkins Theatre at Mount Royal University.
For more information, visit albertapaleo.org.
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
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