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Article: Walking with dinosaurs; Walking in the land of the dinosaurs
- Article from:
- The Press
- Article date:
- November 20, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2001 The Press. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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The world's richest source of dinosaur fossils can be found in
the badlands of Alberta, Canada. NEIL CLARKSON pays a visit.
Locals call it the badlands. Water, wind, and ice have sculpted
the sandstone into grotesque forms. Cottonwood trees cling to
parched earth.
In summer, this land cut beneath the Canadian prairies bakes in
temperatures reaching 54deg. When rain comes, the country becomes
treacherous. Smectite clay swells to four times its size, becoming
as slippery underfoot as grease.
This barren landscape provides scientists with their best window
into the world of dinosaurs.
Nowhere else has a richer source of fossils been found from the
period when these giant reptiles ruled the ...