By David Opinko

Fossils

Mosasaur fossils discovered at Southern Alberta mine

May 12, 2022 | 5:05 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Workers at an ammonite mining company described feeling like kids in a candy store when they made a pre-historic discovery.

Evan Kovacs, Mine Foreman at Korite International, says it was an ordinary day at a mine site south of Lethbridge last week when they came upon what appeared to be a fossil.

“The excitement is always a little high every time we find something in general, but when it ends up being a vertebrate fossil like this Mosasaur or any other dinosaur that could be deposited in the bear paw, it’s always a very, very great moment,” says Kovacs. “The excitement definitely rises and everyone is excited to hear what the experts have to say about the details of it.”

The team contacted the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology in Drumheller, which continues to carefully work away at extracting the fossils.

The paleontologists discovered several pieces of a Mosasaur including a skull, pieces of arm and leg bones, and more. The skull had already been taken back to the museum for further analysis.

Meaningful Mementos

Remembering Someone You've Lost at Christmas

Dec 03, 2024

Seasonal Sorrow

How Do You Get Through The Holidays When You're Grieving?

Nov 01, 2024

Upcoming Events at Oliver's

Grief & Loss and Estate Planning Seminars

Oct 02, 2024

John Issa, Vice President at Korite, says this is far from the first fossil found in the area. He knows of 12 fossils that were uncovered at their site, while there have also been numerous discoveries at a neighbouring mine operated by Enchanted Designs.

This is the second discovery of Mosasaur fossils in the area so far this year. However, Issa says he was particularly excited about this discovery.

“This piece had an amazing skull piece. You had a jaw section with the teeth for both the uppers and lowers together in the same rock. It was an absolutely amazing piece.”

In a previous interview with Lethbridge News Now, Joe Sanchez, Head of the Resource Management Program at the Royal Tyrrell Museum, explained that Mosasaurs were aquatic reptiles that lived in a warm sea that used to cover much of Alberta about 72 million years ago.

Although Mosasaurs were portrayed in the Jurassic World movies as being extremely large creatures, Sanchez says they are generally around seven metres in length.