Northern B.C. is being showcased on screens across the country in a new episode of “Dino Trails”, created by Brandy Yanchyk.
The series zerosĀ in on Prince George’s own collection, currently housed in the Exploration Place.
Exploration Place’s dinosaur footprint exhibit shown in the episode includes Canada’s first-ever collected Sauropod, or “long neck”, footprints including one 80 centimeters deep.
“I love telling stories about dinosaurs, and I love exploring new places when it comes to dinosaurs and other fossils,” said Yanchyk, the series creator.
“There is momentum right now to look in and discover new finds in British Columbia, in a way that Alberta has been doing for years. (…) BC has those dinosaurs, they just need to be found!”
Yanchyk explained most of the track sites in the province are out in the open and uncovered.
“What [the paleontologists] want is help. They need money in order to put a building on top of those track sites and to be able to continue their research.”
“Basically, they haven’t been able to do anything since 2017.”
According to Dr. Lisa Bulkley, one paleontologist featured in the PG episode, Northern B.C. is a fossil hotbed.
“Thanks to the mountain building activities of the Rockies being pushed up, several different time periods of rock have been exposed, so it’s relatively easy to visit lots of rock layers that represent many different points of geologic time.”
Bulkley is hopeful the series will shine a light on the ‘extensive’ natural history of B.C.
“It’s not like we can just go to fossil mart and buy another one”
“This is our planet’s heritage, it’s our shared natural heritage, it’s something we only get one shot really to properly conserve and protect to look after.”
She added land-based influences like rivers, lakes and stream beds are where you find the dinosaur footprints, and less commonly, bones.
“Based on the location and different time periods that are exposed and the types of rocks, it’s like the perfect storm scenario for looking for fossils in the area!” she said.
But, you don’t have to be a professional paleontologist to see what Prince George has to offer, you just have to know where to look, explained Bulkley.
The Paleontologist said you want to check for areas where sedimentary rock will be exposed and close to the surface, like river beds or canyons.
You also want to look for patterns, like shell imprints or footprints.
“It takes a lot of looking! Many, many, many, hours!”