Two city workers became paleontologists after discovering pieces of 70 million-year-old history in a sewer tunnel last week.
Aaron Krywiak, 24, and Ryley Paul, 21, were hand tunneling in a Quesnell Heights sewer tunnel when they came across the bones of what are believed to be an Albertosaurus and an Edmontosaurus.
Don Brinkman, director of preservation and research with the Royal Tyrrell Museum, said the bones themselves are not unique but the occurrence and the additional data is significant.
“This kind of locality is always important because it gives information about the community,” said Don Brinkman, director of preservation and research with the Royal Tyrrell Museum. “This was a significant locality and we needed to do what we could to preserve the heritage information.”
Mike Caldwell, a paleontologist and professor at the University of Alberta, said finding the bones is no coincidence.
“This is proof that all over Edmonton, if you could drop a tunnel down a hundred feet, you’d probably find this same kind of material again. Which means it’s everywhere,” Caldwell said. “It’s not just a random occurrence, it’s actually what we’re standing on.”
The bones will be excavated over the next few days and then will go to the Royal Tyrell Museum for further study.
