Edmonton lives up to dino bone billing

Ahuge dinosaur bone yard has been uncovered in Edmonton, where housing construction is booming.

A man walking his dog in a city park found the first fossils some years ago, but now paleontologists are discovering the site's full potential.

The bones belong to one of the largest duck-billed dinosaurs, known as Edmontosaurus.

The 13-metre-long, slow-moving, short-armed plant eater roamed through swampy habitat 70 million years ago.

Although the species is named after the city,the fossils were previously found only in southern Alberta.

"Because Edmontosaurus has such a huge distribution north and south, all the way up to the north slope of Alaska, we may also learn something about the migratory patterns of dinosaurs," said Phil Currie, a paleontologist at the University of Alberta.

Construction on new homes is non-stop in Edmonton, sparking fears that yet-to-be-discovered bones are being built over.

"All the sites I've been on, we never found any bones," said drywaller David Rorison. "Just construction stuff, earth."

Normally, construction doesn't dig deep enough to hit dinosaur level, so scientists aren't worried.

But now that paleontologists know there is good dinosaur material in Edmonton, they'll be keeping their eyes open, Currie said.

Predator teeth

A team is scraping away dirt on a trail by a creek in southwest Edmonton. They plan to remove the bones from the site over the next few days.

"This is awesome," said fourth-year paleontology student Tyler Shaw. "I did septic tanks for my summer jobs, so anytime you dig a hole and find a dinosaur bone, it's amazing."

Shaw has also come across teeth belonging to predators. It's possible the teeth belong to the Albertosaurus that may have hunted or killed the Edmontosaurs or scavenged its remains.

The researchers hope the site will eventually tell them what led to the extinction of the Edmontosaurus.