Dinosaurs of Alberta: we live in dinosaur country
Alberta is one of the best places on Earth to find dinosaurs. Some were found just south of Lethbridge! Discover where they lived, what scientists found, and where you can see them.
Why Alberta has so many dinosaurs
About 75 million years ago, southern Alberta was a warm, swampy coastal plain beside a shallow inland sea. When animals died, rivers often buried them quickly in mud and sand, which is perfect for making fossils. Millions of years later, the ice age floods carved deep valleys and badlands that exposed those layers again. Rain and wind keep uncovering new bones every year.
Dinosaur discoveries near Lethbridge
🏛 Royal Tyrrell Museum, Drumheller
Canada’s only museum just for palaeontology (the study of ancient life), with one of the world’s biggest dinosaur collections. It’s named for Joseph Burr Tyrrell, who found an Albertosaurus skull near Drumheller in 1884. While you’re in Drumheller, visit the World’s Largest Dinosaur.
tyrrellmuseum.com
🏞 Dinosaur Provincial Park
Near Brooks, about two hours from Lethbridge. A UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979, it has the greatest concentration of late-Cretaceous dinosaur fossils found anywhere on Earth: more than 150 nearly complete skeletons so far. Take a guided tour into the badlands.
🦖 Calgary Zoo: Prehistoric Park
Walk among life-size dinosaurs that once lived in Alberta, then dig for “fossils” in the Dino Dig. It’s a seasonal area, so check the zoo’s hours before you go.
calgaryzoo.com
Meet some Alberta dinosaurs
- Albertosaurus: a smaller, faster cousin of T. rex, named after our province.
- Tyrannosaurus rex: lived here near the very end of the dinosaur age.
- Triceratops and Centrosaurus: horned, frilled plant-eaters.
- Hadrosaurs: “duck-billed” plant-eaters, like the babies found at Devil’s Coulee.
- Ankylosaurs: armoured tanks with club tails.
Found a fossil? Here are the rules
In Alberta, all fossils belong to the province. You may pick up a fossil that is loose on the surface, but only on Crown land or on private land with the owner’s permission, and never in a park. Don’t dig fossils out of the ground or a rock face; that needs a permit. If you find something special, leave it, take a photo, note exactly where it is, and report it to the Royal Tyrrell Museum. You might be the next Wendy Sloboda!
✏ Try it yourself
- Make a fossil: press a shell or leaf into salt dough or plaster, remove it, and let it harden. That’s a “trace fossil”. See salt dough in Make It!
- Dino dig in a pan: bury chicken bones (boiled and cleaned) or toy dinosaurs in sand. Dig them out with a spoon and paintbrush, and draw a map of where each piece was, just like a real palaeontologist.
- How big? T. rex was about 12 metres long. Measure 12 metres in the hallway or yard with a tape measure. How many kids lying head to toe does it take?
❓ Quick quiz
Guess first, then tap to see the answer.
Who found the first eggshells at Devil’s Coulee in 1987?
Wendy Sloboda, a high school student.
Which town is home to the Royal Tyrrell Museum?
Drumheller.
Can you collect fossils in Dinosaur Provincial Park?
No. Collecting fossils is not allowed in any provincial or national park.
Which dinosaur is named after our province?
Albertosaurus.
🏫 For teachers and parents
- Ages: 4 to 14. Dinosaurs are the classic hook into science for younger kids.
- Field trips: Devil’s Coulee (Warner) is the closest for Lethbridge schools; the Royal Tyrrell Museum offers school programs.
- Dino dig: a dig pan teaches careful recording; insist on a “site map” before anything is lifted.
- Citizenship: the fossil rules are a great discussion on why some things belong to everyone.
- More ideas in the Teachers’ Corner.
More Earth Explorers
Sources: Royal Tyrrell Museum, fossil collecting rules; Alberta’s Historic Places, Devil’s Coulee nesting site; Parks Canada, Dinosaur Provincial Park World Heritage Site; Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo.