The Vancouver Island Paleontological Society (VIPS) invites the public to two special presentations at the Courtenay and District Museum on April 7.
Paleontologist Richard McCrea from Tumbler Ridge will present on the “Six Peaks dinosaur track site” near Hudson Hope, B.C., where more than 1,200 footprints and trackways have been uncovered.
| A large theropod footprint. Photo supplied |
McCrea and his team have been doing research on this and many other sites for several years and have the largest collection of dinosaur footprints in B.C. at Peace River Region Paleontological Research Centre. McCrae is a director of the research centre.
The second presentation is “Birding in the Cretaceous” by paleontologist Lisa Buckley, also from Tumbler Ridge. Fossil bird tracks uncovered in that area have been identified and compared to other sites in B.C. and Alberta.
Buckley says Cretaceous-aged bird fossils are not common, so the best information that available about the birds that lived in Canada during the Cretaceous Period is from their footprints. Bird footprint finds from British Columbia and Alberta show us that there was a diverse number of birds living alongside the dinosaurs in western Canada, with new discoveries constantly being made.
The two presentation events will be Saturday, April 7, at the Courtenay and District Museum starting at 1 p.m. All welcome. Admission is $5 adults and kids free. For more information call Dan Bowen (VIPS) 250-897-5026 or Pat Trask (Museum) at 250-334-0686.