Dinosaur Provincial Park
Dinosaur Provincial Park
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Badlands landscape in Dinosaur Provincial Park |
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location | Alberta (Canada) | |
surface | 73.3 km² | |
WDPA ID | 4191 | |
Geographical location | 50 ° 45 ' N , 111 ° 32' W | |
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Setup date | 1955 | |
administration | http://www.albertaparks.ca/ | |
particularities | UNESCO World Heritage Site |
The Dinosaur Provincial Park (in German Dinosaur Provincial Park ) is a provincial park in the Canadian province of Alberta . It is located about 250 km east of Calgary , 30 miles northeast of the village of Brooks . Located in the Canadian Badlands in the Red Deer River valley, the park is known to be one of the richest sites for dinosaur fossils in the world.
Fossil finds from the park are on display in museums around the world, including the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology in Drumheller , about 100 km north in Midland Provincial Park . The dinosaur park formation , in which most of the fossils are located, is about 75 million years old and stratigraphically belongs to the Campanian , the penultimate stage of the Cretaceous period , around 10 million years before the Mesozoic (Earth Middle Ages) ended. At that time, Alberta was a subtropical coastal landscape.
The park forms a unique ecosystem in the middle of the surrounding prairie . Plant species found include cottonwood trees (an American poplar ) and cacti . Among the numerous species of animals are coyotes , antelopes , Canada geese , rattlesnakes and garter snakes .
The park has an area of about 73.3 km². It has existed as a provincial park since 1955 and is classified as a protected area in IUCN category Ia ( Strict Nature Reserve ). In 1979 it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its impressive landscape and fossil finds.
Web links
- Alberta Tourism, Parks, Recreation and Culture: Dinosaur Provincial Park (Engl.)
- Parks Canada: Dinosaur Provincial Park (Engl.)
- Entry on the UNESCO World Heritage Center website ( English and French ).