Voyage to the Royal Tyrell

[Waylon Rowley <cryptovolans@yahoo.com>]

Hello everyone,

     It's been some time since I've posted to this
list, but I have always kept my eye on it. Firstly, I
apologize for depriving you all of my ridiculous
hypotheses and utterly vacuous speculation for so
long. It shant happen again. 
     Today I returned home from the adventure of a
lifetime (or decade) at the Royal Tyrell Museum.
Having spent about 3 days in Drumheller Alberta and
surrounding villages, I was able to experience a
decent chunk of what that area has to offer. 
      After crashing at the Silver Fox B&B (great
place, btw) the first day from the long flight from
Hawaii and the 2 hour drive from Calgary Airport, I
woke up early and went out to Horseshoe Canyon to do a
little prospecting. I managed to find a large (~3")
section of long bone, that wasn't particularly
hollowed out, as you would expect for a theropod.
Without any visible diagnostic features, I reckoned it
belonged to some small or medium-sized ornithopod or
crocodilian. I also saw a few isolated bone shards and
fossil seed pods (questionable ident...). Later in the
day, I made my way to the Tyrell, and upon seeing that
it was closed on mondays, I proceded to investigate
the badlands. As soon as I stepped onto the trail, I
spotted a fossil leaf (wow) and more petrified wood
than you could shake a well-mineralized stick at. I
felt like a _real_ paleontologist, unshaven with
wind-blown hair and all.
        The next day, I returned to the Tyrell, and
daaaamn, was it cool. On display was something I
didn't expect to encounter. An undescribed
"blunt-snouted dromaeosaur" (specimen TMP 95.166.01)
represented by a right maxilla and a dentary, both
bearing teeth. The plaque said it was dated around 70
mya, and represents the first found in that vicinity
since the late 80's. A rather nice cast of
"Dilophosaurus sp." (a.k.a. D. sinensis) was also
there for my viewing pleasure. The plaque described
the crests as being partly hollow, and indeed, I could
observe 9 shallow recesses on the sagittal surface of
the right crest. Next to the unnamed dromie was a
small Confusciusornis (TMP 98.14.02). In addition to
what I've listed above, I took numerous digital
photos. Here are the majority:

skull, rostrum, intramandibular joint, articular,
supraorbital region, calcaneum, posterior tarsus,
manus, scapula/humeral head, pelvis, metatarsus,
close-up of 5th metatarsal showing those curious
little knobs for ligament attachment, maxillary
fenestra, of the young contorted Albertosaurus

skull, occiput, orbit, braincase of Albertasaurus
(specimen TMP 84.0904) 

Several pix of hadrosaur skin impressions

cast of Alxasaurus

occiput of "Black Beauty" cast T. rex

many pics of Sinraptor

several views of a Saurornitholestes pes

Skull, palate, pubic apron of Monolophosaurus

various pics of an ornithomimid with remnants of a
beak (TMP 95.110.01)

Wapitisaurus skull (non-dinosaurian)

Troodon braincase cast (?)

Dunkleosteus (frontal view w/ pen for scale)

"Albertasaurus sp." pelvis

cross-section of Stegosaurus armor plate, showing
vascular canals

Macrophalangia metatarsus

Dromaeosaurus skull, with dorsal view of the exposed
endocranial cavity

Hybodontid shark

Parvinator flipper (icthyosaur)

Strangerochampsa skull (alligator)

Leidyosuchus skull (croc)

Albertochampsa (forgot)

Coelurosauravus (cast?)

Several pics of Coelophysis material, showing pelves,
pubic boots, skull, and a partially exposed snout

The usual assortment of T. rex shots, with yours
truly. 

There are also 5-10 photos of ornithischians. Since
when are they worth mentioning, though? :-)
     So there you have it. If you would like me to
send you some of these pics, don't hesitate to ask.

Cheers,

Waylon           

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