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Dickson Hardie, a long-time resident and amateur paleontologist
has been finding odd looking "bits and bones" for years. Dickson's
discoveries eventually caught the interest of paleontologist Tim Tokaryk
from the Royal Saskatchewan Museum, and Tim's team began digging at Pasquia.
They made their first major discoveries in 1991. |
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Discoveries at Pasquia to date are from the Cretaceous
Period, and include many different plants, toothed
birds, crocodiles, sharks,
bony fish, dinosaurs, turtles,
and marine reptiles called plesiosaurs.
Volcanic ash beds are also present at the three archeological sites.
The bird fossils found at the site "Hardie 1" include a whole
genus that was previously unknown and has since been named Pasquaornis
hardiei in honor of Dickson Hardie. Bird fossils of the species
odontornithes are the oldest of their kind in North America and shed new
light on their evolution. Two fourteen-foot-long fish skeletons found
above Big Bert may also be the oldest of their kind in the world.
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Also of great interest is the "extinction line". This line
is a dark stratum containing a high level of iridium, a rare substance
associated with the theory that an asteroid struck Earth near the end
of the Mesozoic era and caused major extinction.
A significant amount of fossil material still remains at the site, and
paleontological exploration will continue at Pasquia Park.
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Come for a visit. We're
easy to find.
For more information contact:
Pasquia Regional Park
Box 339, Arborfield
Saskatchewan, Canada
SOE 0A0
(306)768-3239 Fax: (306)769-8307
info@pasquia.com
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