How to Find Cretaceous Fossils Want to find the remains of Canadian Cretaceous creatures?
Like finding a living animal, the first step in tracking Cretaceous fossils is to find their habitat. Or in this case, their rock. This requires understanding palaeogeography — the changing arrangement of the continents and oceans over time. North America’s geography was very different more than 65 million years ago. Most notably, a shallow inland sea that is now called the Western Interior Seaway divided the continent in two. Those areas of Canada that were once covered by this ancient sea contain the remains of marine animals, from Cretaceous clams to sharks and plesiosaurs. Once you’re in the right geographic area, such as Alberta’s Badlands, it helps to know your rocks. For example, dinosaur fossils are most common in specific kinds of sedimentary rocks. These rocks are predominantly sandstones, deposited in ancient rivers, beaches and sand dunes, as well as mudstones, formed on ancient flood plains and in lakes and lagoons. Focus on Fossils Now that you’ve found the right kind an
