The Royal Tyrrell Museum is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, and to mark the occasion, it has opened its latest exhibition, Breakthroughs.
The Museum typically opens its seasonal exhibit in the spring to welcome the tourism season. This year is special. In its 40th year, it is showcasing some of its most spectacular discoveries that have cemented the institution as a leader in paleontology.
According to a release, the exhibit tells the stories of five extraordinary finds that changed the understanding of ancient animals, and their evolution, as well as their behaviours.
“The featured specimens are the best-preserved, most complete, the first of its kind, or the only known fossil of its kind,” it states in a release.
The featured exhibits the specimens in a redeveloped gallery, with new animations, illustrations and original music.
One of these featured specimens is the Borealopelta markmitchelli, the world’s best-preserved armoured dinosaur. This was discovered near Fort McMurray in 2011 when it was unearthed by heavy machinery. Tyrrell technician Mark Mitchell spent more than five years working on preparing the fossil, which earned him the honour of it being named after him.

Another Breakthrough that is featured in the gallery is a specimen that provides evidence of the first feathered dinosaur in the Western Hemisphere.
The discovery of the most complete Ornithomimus happened in 1995 when a museum crew was working in Dinosaur Provincial Park. After removing nearly three metres of rock to reach a layer of rich plant fossils, they made the discovery. This nearly complete fossil, with the exception of a few finger and toe bones, has since been recognized as the “Most Complete Ornithomimid” in the 2022 Guinness Book of World Records. What is more special is that during preparation, the researchers determined evidence of feathers.
Other discoveries include a Gorgosaurus libratus specimen, a Mosasaur discovered in a Southern Alberta ammolite mine and the nest of dinosaur eggs that put Warner, Alberta, on the map.
On Friday, May 16, they unveiled this year's exhibition in front of a large crowd, which demonstrate the reputation Alberta has for not only being one of the best places in the world for Paleontology, but also for the work the Tyrrell does.

In what started as a way to honour the trees that were cut in Drumheller to make way for the Flood Mitigation program in the valley has grown into the largest tree carving events in Alberta.
And this year it grew again.
The Chainsaw Wizards sculpting event went international this year with eight world-renowned participants not only from Canada but a strong contingent from the US, the UK, and Germany. Some of these artists are featured on A Cut Above, streaming on Amazon.
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This year the event took up a new venue to accommodate for the greater number of carvers. The site beside the Drumheller Memorial Arena was a hive of energy as the carvers worked the gigantic logs into works of art.
The local Chainsaw Wizards committee, which includes Heather Colberg, Wayne Powell, Tony Miglez, and Harvey Saltys, with support from the town of Drumheller, worked with Marina Cole, who has participated in previous years’ events.
The carvers set to work on Friday, May 16, and worked away until Monday, May 19. Along the way, they created new trail stoppers, which will be used on the local trail network. Throughout the weekend, there were quick carve events where the artists created a new work within an hour that were immediately auctioned off on-site.
One of the organizers, Wayne Powell, explains that two of the main projects will remain in the valley, while six main projects will be auctioned off online. The carving will be posted for one week on Premier Auctions' website for sale, starting May 19.
Powell explains that the proceeds from this auction will help make the event sustainable and continue for years to come.