A dig site two miles southwest of Miami has produced an exciting find by field workers and researchers with the Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre.
CFDC Executive Director, Adolfo Cuetara says CFDC staff recently discovered a full mosasaur skeleton on the property.
A small bone was the first of the mosasaur to appear while the area's surface was being lightly cleaned by CFDC's Jerry Peters while using the tractor scraper. The tractor was stopped, and the team began digging with hand tools. That kept resulting in more and more of the mosasaur being uncovered.
"Right now, we have a few spots in the property with fossils but the most important, is this new whole mosasaur skeleton that we just found," said Cuetara. "And this is where we are bringing our visitors for dig tours, So the visitors coming with us to the dig tours, they are not looking for fossils, they are actually digging a mosasaur skeleton. So that's a very unique experience, and this is well worth it."
Cuetara says they now have to try and find the skull and limb bone elements. He says the skull is very important because it's what tells them the species it could be. "We know now that it is a mosasaur, but there are several species of mosasaurs around, so they're trying to find some skull elements to help them make that determination."
A day at the dig site will start with digging. Lunch is then provided, and the afternoon is filled with different experiences, like filtering shale and clay to find microfossils. Cuetara says there are not just big fossils to be found, but by using a screen for filtering, you can look for small fish teeth and small bones. He says they are all equally important to the CFDC.
