Palaeontology

The Royal Tyrrell Museum is a public and academic institution. Its goals are to increase knowledge and understanding of fossils relevant to Alberta and to preserve those fossil resources for the future.

In order to achieve these goals, the Museum has an active research section. Working together, researchers provide detailed pictures of Alberta's ancient past.

Palaeontology is the study of ancient life. The term comes from the old Greek words palaios, which means ancient, and logos, which means word, or reasoning.

Much of our knowledge of the ancient world comes from our study of fossils . Fossils are the remains of ancient plant and animals or the traces of their activities. Bones, shells and teeth are the best-known fossils. But many others, from footprints to fossil dung to minuscule seeds, are also on display.

Scientists do not only seek the new, the strange, the biggest. They increasingly search for clues to past environments, animal behaviour, and evolution. The smallest fossils may hold the most important clues.

Invertebrate palaeontology is the study of animals without backbones, including clams, snails and ammonites.

Vertebrate palaeontology is the study of dinosaurs as well as many other types of ancient backboned animals.

Palynology is the study of fossil spores and pollens.

Sedimentology is the study of the rocks that contain fossils. It provides us with an understanding of ancient physical environments.

A World of Small Fossils

In addition to dinosaurs, a wide variety of other fossils are collected, studied and displayed at the museum. Most of these fossils are much smaller than the dinosaurs.

Microvertebrate Fossils

Microvertebrate fossils consist of small, individual bones or teeth of vertebrates such as fish, frogs, lizard and crocodiles. They are collected by washing samples of sedimentary rock in screen boxes. After much of the rock dissolves, the remaining matrix is carefully examined under a microscope and the tiny fossils are picked out by hand.

Invertebrate Fossils

Invertebrate fossils include the remains of animals without backbones such as sponges, corals and worms. In limestone rocks, the remains are sometimes replaced by the mineral silica. They can be extracted using acid which dissolves the limestone but not the silicified fossils.

Casts and Molds

Casts are copies of original fossils. They are made from the mold original fossil.

Casts are used in exhibits when fossils are too heavy or too fragile to be mounted or when original fossils are not available. High quality casts are often used for teaching or to study fossils that are rare or inaccessible.

Small Casts

Casts are not always big. With care, fine details can be reproduced on the external surfaces of very small casts.

This document was prepared by Wayne Hortensius, Calgary, Alberta, Canada for the Royal Tyrrell Museum Cooperating Society. All information © 1995 Royal Tyrrell Museum. All Rights Reserved.
Updated: April 8, 1995

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