What to do when you find a fossil

Thirteen thousand years ago, the Canadian Badlands were formed due to the melting glacial waters of the Laurentide Ice sheet. Still, the area and many fossils date 75 million years ago to the Late Cretaceous period.

Drumheller and the valley are rich in fossil deposits from dinosaur bones, ammonite (fossilized shell), and pieces of amber to dinosaur teeth. So what do you do if you think you have found a fossil? In Alberta, digging up or removing a fossil is punishable with fines up to $50,000 CDN and one year in prison.

So what do you do?

The location of the fossil is just as important as the one you found. Where one is possible, it is illegal to dig fossils in Alberta. Take a picture, use a pen, coin etc., and mark the location on a map with coordinates or GPS.

Once you have collected all the information, it is essential to report your findings and pictures to the Royal Tyrrell Museum, Head Technician tyrrell.fossilreport@gov.ab.ca

Please see the Royal Tyrrell Museum for more information on what to do if you find a fossil https://tyrrellmuseum.com/research/found_a_fossil#:~:text=If%20you%20find%20a%20fossil,Leave%20it%20buried.