62 



The Canadl\n Field-Naturalist. 



\'ol. XXXX 



ticeable iu tlie pelvis, or bouy arcli with 

 which tihe hind limbs articulate, and the 

 hollowness of the bones, especially those 

 of the limb?.. 



The largest of t.lie carnivorous forms, 

 which attained a lengrth of forty feet, 

 has been named Tyroiwsaurus or Tyrant 

 Lizard, and quite deserves Hhe name 

 Di}ws(iHr. 



People often say "Wihat strange an- 

 imals lived in prehistoric times", but they 

 do not tliink 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 first time, gazed intently 

 at the giraffe for a few moments, tlhen 

 turned to his mother and said, "There 

 aint no such animal." 



The Canadian Field. — Our Canadian 

 field, on the Red Deer Rivei',, Alberta, 

 is probably the ric/iest known for the 

 collection of dinosaurian remains, if we 

 consider the nmnber of genera and spe- 

 cies it has produced and the completeness 

 of the specimens. Thouglh we have made 

 great advances in our knowledge of the 

 upper Cretaceous dinosaursi, there are 

 .several species which, as yet, are re- 

 presented by such fragmentary material 

 that only insufficient knowledge of t^ieir 

 structure can be gained. 



There are two subdivisions of the up- 

 per Cretaceous, known as the Edmonton 

 and Belly River formationisi respectiveh 

 from which Geological Survey field part- 

 ies have collected mast of the dinosaurian 

 remaias now preserved in the Victoria 

 Aff^moria] Museum ait Ottawa. The Ed- 

 inoulon formation is best exposed along 

 the Red Deer river noi-lheast of Calgary, 

 Alberta, while t^ie most productive depos- 

 its of Belly River iige are exposed along 

 lht' same river east of Calgary. These 

 and rising .several times. What is now 

 two divisions are ,se])arated by about six 

 hundred feet of marine deposit (Ft. 

 Piernv). showing that at the clo.se of the 

 Belly River age this region was sub- 

 merged beneath the sea and did not re- 

 appear until Edmonton Idme. 



There is much evidence to .s)iow that 

 during Cretaceous times the continent 

 wah not stable but sank in one area and 

 rose iu another, and repeated the sinking 



Alberta was submerged heneatili the Cre- 

 taceous sea no less than Dhree times. The 

 close of the Cretaceous period marked the 

 draining off of the Cretaceous: sea and 

 t;iie country continued to rise luitil it 

 readied an altitude of thirty-five hundred 

 feet above sea level. Subsequently most 

 of the deposits whiclh 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}ie high 

 points, which did not succumb to the 

 levelling e. g. the Hand Hills and the 

 C'3T)ress Hills. 



Since the glacial period the Red Deer 

 river has cut a great trough in the 

 ]uairie and has tapped the ancient burial 

 ground. The erosion has been so rapid 

 t.hat the banks are quite steep, and the 

 rocks are denuded of soil or vegetation 

 and in many places are weathered into a 

 badlan<l topograplhy of many canyons, 

 ridges and steep slopes. In these bad- 

 lands Geological Survey parties search 

 out the ancient giants and remove them 

 to Ottawa, there to be preserved for all 

 to see and study. 



At the time when tlie Belly River and 

 Edmonton depasits 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 ip" 

 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 the 

 western part of the continent from the 

 eastern part. 



That the dinosaurs lived near sea le\'el 

 is proved by the fact tlhat we often find 

 minirled with their bones, the bones of 

 marine animals which had wandered too 

 Car inUim] or whot-ie bones had been 

 di-i\cn in li\' the waves. ]\I.ost of the 

 dej)osits in whie.h the remains are found 

 are of fine grained sand and clay which 

 indicates sluggish streams or quiet water. 



p]vidence pctints to a dense growth of 

 both land ;ind w;iter plants. Rushes are 

 \ei'> common, as are trunks, branches, 

 and cones of the Red AVood. The pre- 

 encc of palms, figs, and other forms of 



