Started by following reports of rare dinosaur bones in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies…
The Mountainous Alberta Dinosaur Project began in 2017 as nothing more than curiosity after hearing reports of rare dinosaur bones in Hinton and Sundre, Alberta. After a little work with geological maps, a one day trip to look at Brazeau Formation outcrop yielded our first specimen. With each trip, our specimen count grew, and at the end of our first real field season in 2018, four hadrosaur (duck-billed dinosaur) skeletons, one bonebed, and six isolated bones had been discovered within the Brazeau Formation of the Alberta Rocky Mountain Foothills. Unexpectedly, the 2018 field season would prove to be just the beginning of what is becoming a remarkable project.
MADP is a collaborative effort between several researchers at Alberta universities. Aaron van der Reest (palaeontology and taphonomy, University of Alberta) and Jenni Scott (stratigraphy and sedimentology, Mount Royal Uni.) lead the project, with Alberto Reyes (geology, U of A) and Andy DuFrane (radiometric dating, U of A) providing expertise in geology.
Our aim is to explore the Cretaceous formations of the Alberta Rocky Mountain Foothills to expand scientific understanding of their geology and palaeontology. By using satellite imaging and geological maps published by the Geological Survey of Canada and the Alberta Geological Survey, localities are chosen by the apparent depth of river canyons.
Rock formations of most interest are (from oldest to youngest) the Nikanassin Formation of the late Jurassic to early Cretaceous, the early Cretaceous Luscar Group and Blackstone Formation, and the Cardium, Wapiabi, Brazeau, and Coalspur Formations from the Late Cretaceous. These rock units can provide valuable information about the evolution of vertebrates in western North America during the Cretaceous.