Rare Thoracosaurus Fossil Unearthed

Parks Canada and the Royal Saskatchewan Museum organized their annual Fossil Fever event in August in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan. This excavation included both professional paleontologists and enthusiastic members of the public. This year, a rare discovery was made: a thoracosaurus tooth. This marks the third such tooth found in the province, hinting at a potential pattern.

Kaitlin Lindblad, a University of Regina PhD student who has been studying crocodile fossils for five years, was thrilled by the find. She expressed her excitement saying, "I basically did like a happy dance around the quarry and started running around in circles." This discovery, while raising further questions about future finds, also suggests that the thoracosaurus might have once lived in the region.

Prior to these recent discoveries, the idea of the thoracosaurus inhabiting the area was considered unlikely. Lindblad’s thesis focuses on paleontology in southeast Saskatchewan, and she is pioneering this research. She stated, "It’s a really well known formation, very well studied, very well searched, so to be able to help find a new animal...

It’s a little bit intimidating, but it’s also super cool that I can be contributing to this research." The uniqueness of this find lies in the thoracosaurus being a marine animal, making the discovery in Grasslands National Park an extraordinary event.