Artist Jan Vriesen’s painting of the environment 112 million years ago. (Tumbler Ridge Museum) This dreamy painting by artist Jan Vriesen imagines what the environment was like in the Tumbler Ridge region of northeastern BC. about 112 million years ago. It was the “Age of the Dinosaurs,” and the steep slopes in the valley of Ninesting Creek, a tributary of the Wolverine River southwest of the community, were likely at the edge of an open lake basin or floodplain pond. Researchers say they have finally identified a set of “unusual” fossilized corridors discovered there in 2014, believed to be among the largest and oldest of their kind in Canada and North America. The findings were recently published in the scientific journal Cretaceous Research and shared by the Tumbler Ridge Museum this week. The museum says three “distinct” types of tracks were found in a Quintette mine lease area: large three-toed bird tracks, larger four-toed dinosaur tracks believed to have been made by oiraptorosaurs, and pterosaur tracks. “The pterosaur tracks are arguably the first to be found in BC, although such tracks have been found in Alberta, Alaska and the western US,” the museum said in a press release. “They appear to be the oldest identified so far in Canada.” The three-toed bird tracks, the museum said, are “the largest from the Mesozoic Era (the ‘Age of the Dinosaurs’) in North America and among the largest in the world from this time period.” “At the time the tracks were made, the area was probably on the margin of an open lake basin or floodplain lake. “Traces of freshwater mussels were also present on the surface, suggesting that birds, oviraptorosaurs and pterosaurs may have been interested in a meal of molluscs. “At that time the region would have been near the Arctic Circle, with long periods of winter darkness.” A total of twenty tracks were found on six different routes at the site, of which mine operator Teck Resources “was extremely helpful in supporting the research and providing access to the site”, the museum said. “The discovery confirms the importance of northeastern B.C. as an area rich in fossils”. University of Colorado professor emeritus and geologist Martin Lockley was the lead author of the article. He was supported by Charles Helm, Andrew Lawfield and Kevin Sharman of the Tumbler Ridge Museum. The museum says the 2014 track discovery is among more than 70 vertebrate sites identified in the Tumbler Ridge UNESCO World Geopark. More than 400 million years of northeastern history B.C. they are housed and exhibited in the museum, while the Geopark is also home to a 75-million-year-old tyrannosaur track.
