Fossil foils again

By

 28 June 2012 22:59 GMT

Syncrude Canada’s acreage is beginning to look something like the set of a Steven Spielberg movie after the discovery of dinosaur remains in the oil sands operator’s mine in Northern Alberta, Canada.

Two sets of specimens believed to be the predatory marine reptile, elasmosaur, between 112 million and 114 million years old were found in May, making the site a hotbed of fossil activity.

These are the second and third finds since November 2011 when a plesiosaur, a marine reptile, was unearthed.

All of the fossils appear to have 70% to 80% of the skeleton preserved, including a partial skull on one of them.

Syncrude suspects it is mining in an area of an ancient sea bed where wind and water currents concentrated carcasses of plesiosaurs.

It…

Become an Upstream member!

Membership includes a subscription to our weekly newspaper providing in-depth news from the energy industry, plus full-access to this site and its archives. Still not convinced? Try our free trial.

Already a member?

Login

Upstream share price index