Different dinosaurs roamed at same time around Edmonton, scientists say

Researchers in Edmonton have found bones suggesting two types of large dinosaurs that had been thought to live in different eras and places likely roamed the area simultaneously 70 million years ago.

Last year, world-renowned University of Alberta paleontologist Phil Currie and his team found bones of the five-tonne plant eater Edmontosaurus at the site on Edmonton's outskirts.

On Thursday, Currie announced they have discovered bones of a second duck-billed plant eater Saurolophus at the same site.

"The understanding has always been that Saurolophus probably lived in a different environment [than Edmontosaurus ]," said Currie.

"The fact that we are finding both in here is an indication that we have to rethink that one."

The bones were found at a 70-metre stretch of land along a creek just inside the southwest city limits.The siteis littered with dinosaur bones from70 million yearsago, making it one of the world's largest bone beds, according to Currie.

"This site is a very neat site because it's right in the city of Edmonton," said Currie.

Other important discoveries have also been made at the site.

"We do have teeth from Tyrannosaurus big meat-eating dinosaurs presumably scavenging on the remains of these animals," said graduate studentPhil Bell.

Even though the Edmontosaurusis named after the city,its fossils hadpreviously been found only in southern Alberta until the 2006 discovery. Oneof the largest duck-billed dinosaurs, Edmontosaurus was a 13-metre-long, slow-moving, short-armed plant eater.

The Saurolophus, thought to have been about nine metres long and weigh several tonnes, had a distinctive boney spike, or crest, extending from its forehead.

The location of the latest find is being kept secret to prevent it from being damaged. Currie and his team expect to unearth more bones there.

"I think we're going to be here for a long time," said Currie."It's a rich site. It's an easy access site for us and it's producing a lot of information so I expect we'll be coming back to this site every year for the next few years."

The newly discovered bones are being removed this week and taken to the University of Alberta to be cleaned up.

Currie, meanwhile, is getting ready for his next dig, inMongolia, at the end of August.