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Royal Tyrell Museum Photo
the fossils. Today, in Alberta’s badlands, rates of erosion are high and new fossils are exposed every year.
Climate was subtropical to warm temperate, and seasonally wet. Year-round average temperatures were about 20ºC and rainfall was approximately 1000 mm/year. Plant life was rich and varied, consisting of lush forests of evergreen trees, and many flowering shrubs. There were no grasslands typical of plains vegetation we see now, and the ground was covered by ferns and horsetails.
"Speaking in terms of historic geology," Ebert says, "the earth tells a story as you delve into the stratified layers: it’s literally like peeling back layers of history. The geology is critical in revealing physical environments, like meandering rivers, floodplains, coastal swamps and shorelines. We are able to determine the age of the rocks and fossils through radiometric dating. This process shows that dinosaurs range in age anywhere from 66 to 80 million years.”
Ebert says that, given that the age of dinosaurs lasted from 66 to 216 million years ago (~150 million years), Alberta’s
dinosaurs represent some of the last of their kind. It's not surprising then that Alberta is also an important place for scientists to study how and why dinosaurs went extinct.
The Museum is RV accessible and has designated RV parking. Although there are no over-night privileges in the museum parking lot, nearby you’ll find the Dinosaur Trail RV Resort (5 minutes away), the Dinosaur RV park (12 minutes away) , River Grove Campground (12 minutes away), and the Hoodoo RV Resort & Campground (30 minutes away).
LOCATION The Royal Tyrrell Museum is nestled in the heart of the Canadian Badlands, 6 km (4 mi) northwest of Drumheller, Alberta, in Midland Provincial Park. Plan to spend anywhere from two hours to two days visiting the
Museum (two-day passes are available so you don’t miss anything!).
DISTANCES AND TIMES BY CAR • Calgary 138 km (85mi) 1 hr 30 min • Edmonton 280 km (174 mi) 3 hrs • Drumheller 6 km (4 mi) 7 min • Red Deer 169 km (105 mi) 2 hrs • Banff 264 km (163 mi) 3 hrs • Brooks 138 km (85 mi) 1 hr 30 min • Lethbridge 302 km (188 mi) 3 hrs 15 min • Medicine Hat 251 km (156 mi) 2 hrs 30 min
WIN GREAT PRIZES
rvsnowbirds.com/meridianrv
GPS COORDINATES Programming your GPS? The Royal Tyrrell Museum is located here: 1500 North Dinosaur Trail Universal Transverse Mercator System 12 U 375679 5704697 (WGS84) Longitude: 112° 47’ 21.4” W
Latitude: 51° 28’ 45.7” N Elevation: 2300 ft. or 690 m
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