The paleontological discoveries keep on coming.
This time, it’s a Cretaceous era track, track known as Magnoavipes.
The name means “big bird-foot”, and what exactly a Magnoavipes is is hard to tell, as the only evidence of this species is from its trackways, which have been found here, in the states and in China.
Recently, Dr Charles Helm and Dr Roy Rule published a scientific paper in British Columbia Birds describing the three tracks that were found in the area.
While the paper was published in British Columbia Birds, it is not known whether the tracks were created by an early species of large bird or a type of dinosaur known as an ornithomimid.
So far, only three Magnoavipes tracks have been reported from Canada, all three are from the Tumbler Ridge area. They are all about 95 million years old. According to a release from the Tumbler Ridge Museum, one of the tracks was recovered by canoe from its riverside location and transported across the river, into the back of a truck, from where it was safely transported to the Tumbler Ridge Museum, making it the only Magnoavipes track accessioned in a museum collection in Canada.
The tracks were found in what once was a coastal delta environment, with wetlands and vegetated lowland plains. “Each one of these can be regarded as a miracle of preservation,” says the release. “The Magnoavipes tracks range in length from 22-25 cm. Many such tracks have probably been exposed and destroyed over time. Floods and the annual spring thaw can easily destroy these traces or carry them downstream, which underlines the importance of recovering them whenever possible.”
Trent is the publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines.
