Dinosaur Provincial Park

IUCN Category Ia - Strict Nature Reserve

Badlands landscape in dinosaur provincial park

The Dinosaur Provincial Park ( officially Dinosaur Provincial Park ) is a provincial park in the Canadian province of Alberta. It is located about 250 km east of Calgary, 48 km northeast of the town of Brooks. The park is located in the Canadian Badlands in the valley of the Red Deer River and is known as one of the richest site of dinosaur fossils around the world.

Fossils from the park will be exhibited in museums around the world, including the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology in Drumheller, located about 100 km north in Midland Provincial Park. The Dinosaur Park Formation, in which there are the most fossils, about 75 million years old and belongs stratigraphically in the Campanian, the penultimate stage of the Cretaceous period, around 10 million years before the Mesozoic ( Mesozoic ) ended. At this time, Alberta was a subtropical coastal scenery.

The park forms a unique ecosystem in the middle of the prairie surrounding it. Among the plant species include cottonwood trees ( an American poplar) and cacti. Among the many species of animals are coyotes, antelope, Canada geese, rattlesnakes and garter snakes.

The park has an area of ​​approximately 73.3 km ². He is a provincial park since 1955. In 1979 it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its stunning scenery and the fossil record.