Mystery of the mass grave pachyrhinosaurus in Canada

Hidden under the slopes of a lush forest in Albert, Canada, is a mass grave on a monumental scale.

Thousands of dinosaurs were buried here, killed in an instant on the day of full devastation.

Now a group of paleontologists came to the Pipestone Creek-nicknames nicknamed “Death River” to help solve a 72 million summer flaw: how did they die?

Trying to understand exactly what happened here begins with the suction of the sledgehammer.

You need a rough force to reveal the thick layer of the rock that covers what Professor Emily Bamfa, which leads digging, describes as “Palaeo Gold”.

When its team begins to more delicate work, removing the layers of dirt and dust, slowly begins a clump of fossil bones.

“We think it’s a big bone point.

“Then here, we have all these long, skinny bones. It’s all the ribs. And it’s neat – it’s a part of the bone on the leg. This is here, we don’t have the concept that it is a great example of the Pipestone Creek mystery.”

BBC News came to Pipestone Creek to witness a large scale of this prehistoric cemetery and see how researchers combine tips.

Thousands of fossils were collected from the site and constantly generated New discoveries.

All the bones belong to the dinosaur called Pahirkhinosaur. Types and excavations of Professor Bamfort – in the new BBC – walking series – walking with dinosaurs – uses visual effects and science to revive this prehistoric world.

These animals, who lived during the late chalk, were a relative of the three. Size about five meters long and weighs two tones Four -legged beasts had large headsDecorated with a distinctive bone and three horns. Their decisive function was a large boss called boss.

The digging season has just begun and lasts every year until the fall. Stones in a small playground operated on, incredibly tightly packed; According to estimates, prof.

So far, its team has excavated the area with a tennis court, but the bone bed is extending to a kilometer per slope.

“This jaw is dropped in terms of its density,” she says.

“We believe that one of the largest bone beds in North America.

“More than half of the well -known types of dinosaurs in the world are described from one sample. We have thousands of Pahirkhinosaurus here.”

Paleontologists believe that dinosaurs migrate together in a huge herd hundreds of miles from the south – where they spent the winter – to the north to the summer.

The area that had a much warm climate today would be covered with rich vegetation, providing rich foods for this huge group of animals that feed on plants.

“This is the only community of a single species of the shooting in time, and it is a huge sampling size. It almost never happens in fossil records,” says prof. Bumffort.

And this patch of the Northwestern Alberta was not only the house of Pahirkhinazaurus. Even greater dinosaurs wandered on this earth, and studying them is very important to try to understand this ancient ecosystem.

Two hours of drive we reach hills to places. The arrival there provides a hike in the thick forest, breaking through – or dogs in the case of aster – through the rapid run and moves on slippery rocks.

No digging is required here; The super sizes of the bone lie next to the coastline, washed from the rock and purified the waist with water, just waiting to be taken away.

The huge vertebra is quickly noticed, as are the pieces of ribs and teeth scattered in the mud.

Paleontalologist Jackson Sweder is particularly interested in that look like a piece of dinosaur. “Most of what we find here is a dinosaur, which is called Edmontazor. If it’s a skull bone, it’s a large dinosaur – probably 30 feet (10 m),” he says.

Edmontazaur, another herbivore, wandered through the forests, like a cherryhinasurium – and helps paleontologists create a picture of this ancient land.

Sweder is a collection manager at the Dinosaur Museum Philip J. Curry in the adjacent Grando -Pre -PRRIE, where bones from both of these giants are accepted for cleaning and analyzing. Currently, it is working on a large skull pachyrhinosaurus, about 1.5 m long, and it is suggested by “Big Sam”.

It indicates where there should be three horns at the top of Frill, but that middle is missing. “All the skulls that are decently completed have a spike in this place,” he says. “But his cute little unicorn spike seems to be there.”

For many years, working on an unusual platform, the museum team collected 8,000 duty bones, and the laboratory surfaces are covered with fossils; There are bones from Pahirkhinosaurus of any size, from young to old ones.

The presence of material from this number of animals allows researchers to learn about the biology of dinosaurs, answering questions about how the species and makeup of the community are growing. They can also look at the individual variations to find out how one Pahirchinosaurus can stand out from the herd – as it can be with great Sam and its disappeared spike.

All these detailed studies at the museum and on two sites help the team answer the vital question: How many animals in Pipestone Creek have died at the same time?

“We believe that it was a herd on seasonal migration, which was confused in a catastrophic event that effectively destroyed, if not the whole herd, a good part of it,” says Professor Bumffort.

All data suggest that this catastrophic event was a flash of floods – perhaps a thunderstorm over the mountains that sent without stopping the torrent of the water toward the herd, tearing the trees from their roots and switching boulders.

Professor Bamffa says that the scorchinosaur would not have a chance. “These animals cannot move very quickly from their large numbers, and they are very heavy – and not very good in swimming.”

The rocks found on the spot show the swirls of the rapidly flowing water. It is as if the destruction froze in time as a wave in stone.

But this day nightmare for dinosaurs is now a dream for paleontologists.

“We know that every time we come here, it is 100% guaranteed that we will find bones. And every year we find something new about the species,” says Prof. Bumffort.

“That’s why we continue to come back because we still find new things.”

Because the team collects its tools ready to return another day, they know that there is a lot of work ahead. They are only scratching the surface of what is here – and there are still many prehistoric secrets that are just waiting for disclosure.

The new Walking Walking Series starts on Sunday May 25 at 18:25 BST on the BBC One, with all episodes available on BBC iPlayer.