Most complete dinosaur skeleton ever found in B.C.

TUMBLER RIDGE, B.C. – A paleontologist says the dinosaur bones airlifted from an area near the Alberta border last week make up the most complete skeleton ever found in B.C., even if the head is yet to be located.

Richard McCrea of the Tumbler Ridge Museum says it’s possible the head was scavanged by a tyrannosaurus because about 60 of the carniverous dinosaur’s teeth were found.

McCrea says the excavation process for the 73-million-year-old hadrosaur’s remains has been in the works since 2008, but his team is hoping to unearth dozens more like it in what he describes as a bone pit near Tumbler Ridge, B.C.

The paleontologist says at least 30 hadrosaurs could still be discovered in the area because they lived in herds and did not tend to die alone or in small groups.

McCrea adds the skeleton is proof that B.C.’s paleontological history needs to be taken more seriously and that the excavation took so long partly because his six-member team operates on such a small budget.

McCrea says it will be at least a year before hadrosaur’s remains will be displayed at the museum because he currently does not have funding to hire the proper technicians to prepare the bones.