Two years ago Anna Marquis and her brother discovered new dinosaur tracks in Quality Creek while at the Tumbler Ridge Medical Conference. This year it was the turn of Dr Christina Cleveland, who found a spectacular, tiny dinosaur track while enjoying the guided tour of the Wolverine River site.
This year, river levels are running high. There were fourteen participants per group. A safety-first approach dictated that we would not have more than seven people on the track-bearing surface at any one time, to prevent anyone from accidentally tumbling into the river. Therefore, it was suggested to the other seven that they simply sit down on the rocks and enjoy the spectacular riverside scenery and wait their turn. But Christina decided to take matters into her own hands, instead turning over loose rocks and looking for the tell-tale patterns she has been taught to look for (this was the fourth year in a row that she has attended the conference).
Soon she came running up, saying “Look what I have found!” And there were the three small toe impressions: undoubtedly those of a small theropod dinosaur. Further study is happening, including photogrammetry. This may be a small example of a track type called Magnoavipes, registered by either an ornithomimid or a very large bird, 95 million years ago. If it is Magnoavipes, it will be included in a forthcoming publication on this track type, as Tumbler Ridge forms the only Canadian locality from which it has been reported (it has also been identified in Alaska and Colorado).
This is by far the most important discovery that Christina, who works in Mackenzie, has made so far. We joked that the main reason for organizing such a large medical conference is so that someone can discover a new dinosaur track. With good reason, she is delighted, and so are the Tumbler Ridge Medical Conference organizers and the Tumbler Ridge Museum – everybody wins!
