62 



The Canadian Field-Naturalist. 



Vol. XXXV 



tieeable in the pelvis, or bony arch with 

 which tihe hind limbs articulate, and the 

 hollowness of tihe bones, especially those 

 of the limba 



The largest of t.he carnivorous forms, 

 which attained a leiigfth of forty feet, 

 has been named Tyranosanrus or Tyrant 

 Lizard, and quite deserves Hhe name 

 Dinosaur. 



People often say "Wlhat strange an- 

 imals lived in prehistoric timeisi", but they 

 do not think of the strangeness of some 

 of our present day animals because they 

 are familiar with t)iem. They remind 

 one of the small boy who, when visiting 

 the Zoo for the finst; time, gazed intently 

 at the giraffe for a few moments, tlhen 

 turned to his mother aiul said, "There 

 aint no siuch animal.'' 



The Canadian Field. Our Canadian 

 field, on the Red Deer River, Alberta, 

 Is probably the ric/ie.st known for the 

 collection of dinosaurian remains, if we 

 consider the number of genera and spe- 

 cies it has produced and the completeness 

 of the specimens. Thouglh we have made 

 great advances in our knowledge of tlie 

 upper Cretaceous dinosaurfci, there are 

 several species which, as yet, are re- 

 presented by such fragmentary material 

 that only insufficient knowledge of tjiieir 

 structure can be gained. 



There are two subdivisions of the up- 

 per Cretaceous, known as the Edmonton 

 and Belly River formationsi respectively 

 from which Geological Survey field part- 

 ies Ihave collected most of the dinosaurian 

 remains now preserved in lihe Victoria 

 Memorial Museum ait Ottawa. The Ed- 

 monton formation is best exposed along 

 the Red Deer river nortiheast of Calgary, 

 Alberta, while t^ie most productive depos- 

 its of Belly River age are exposed along 

 the isame river east of Calgary. These 

 and rising several times. What is now 

 two divisions are separated by about six 

 hujidrt'd feet of marine deposit (Ft. 

 Pierre), sihowing that at the close of tHie 

 Belly River age this region was sub- 

 merged beneath the sea and did not re- 

 appear until Edmonton tame. 



There is much evidence to s,how that 

 tluring Cretaceous tinu's the continent 

 was not stable but sank in one area and 

 rose in another, and repeated the sinking 



Alberta was submerged benealih the Cre- 

 taceous sea no less than uhree times. The 

 close of the Cretaceous period marked the 

 drainino- off of tlie Cretaceousi sea and 

 tjie couDitry continued to rise until it 

 reached an altitude of thirty-five hundred 

 feet above sea level. Subsequently most 

 of the deposits whicih were of more re- 

 cent age than Cretaceous were eroded 

 away, and finally the great ice cap aided 

 in the leveling by scouring here and 

 filling there. Only a remnant of the 

 more recent deposits is left on t,he high 

 points which did not succumb to the 

 levelling e. g. tihe Hand Hills and the 

 Cypress Hills. 



Since the glacial period the Red Deer 

 river has cut a great trough in tlie 

 prairie and has tapped the ancient burial 

 ground. The erosion has been so rapid 

 t.iiat the banks are quite .steep, and the 

 rocks are denuded of soil or vegetarion 

 and in many places are weathered into a 

 badland topograplhy of many canyons, 

 ridgesi and steep slopes. In these bad- 

 lands Geological Survey parlies search 

 out the ancient giants and remove them 

 to Ottawa, there to be preserved for all 

 to see and study. 



At the time when the Belly River and 

 Edmonton deposits were being laid down 

 this section of country was a great low- 

 lying land of many lakes, bayous and 

 swamps, which were very little above tji^^ 

 level of the Cretaceouisi sea. This sea ex- 

 tended from the Gulf of Mexico over 

 what is now the prairie states and prov- 

 inces and at one stage connected with 

 the Arctic Ocean, thus separating tbe 

 western part of the continent from the 

 eastern part. 



That the dinosaurs lived near sea level 

 is proved by the fact that we often find 

 mingled with their bones, the bones of 

 marine animals which had wandered too 

 far inland or whoi^c bones had been 

 driven in l)y the waves. Most of the 

 deposits in w'hic.a the remains are found 

 are of fine grained sand and clay which 

 indicates sluggish streams or quiet water.^ 

 Evidence points to a dense e:rowtli of 

 both bind and water plants. Rushes are 

 very common, as are trunks, l)ranches, 

 and cones of the Red Wood. The pres- 

 ence of palm^, figs, aiid other forms of 



