More Dino Fun in SW Saskatchewan The T. rex Discovery Centre is only a 90 min drive from Swift Current and an hour from Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park. Visitors can check out the latest discoveries or take a virtual trip to Scotty’s quarry using the new virtual reality glasses. It is located at #1 T. rex Drive in Eastend, SK, and open daily from 10:00 am until 6:00 pm And while you’re on The Trail also plan to visit the Ancient Echoes Interpretive Centre at Herschel (west of Hwy 4, northwest of Rosetown). There is an impressive display of marine fossils, many found in the nearby Coal Mine Ravine, that provide examples of creatures that lived in or near the inland sea some 65 million years ago. Photo Courtesy of Royal Saskatchewan Museum
For more experiences along the Dinosaur Trail plan to travel to the T. rex Discovery Centre at Eastend, Sask. (about a four hour drive southwest of Regina). Described as a “gem” of Saskatchewan’s southwest, the centre’s fossil exhibits feature marine reptiles, prehistoric mammals and impressive dinosaurs. The T. rex Centre is open yearly from the May long weekend thru Labour Day weekend and hosts family-friendly events throughout the year including Tea and Fossils and the Canada Rocks Event (July 1), Scotty’s (the T. rex) Birthday (Aug 16) and Fossil Fever (Aug 14-18).
One of the attractions in this venue is a fossil of a Short-necked Plesiosaur - Dolichorhynchops herschelensis found near the community. The centre also showcases artifacts of a more “modern” era — be sure to a take summer guided tours of petroglyph carvings, teepee rings and the rubbing stones left behind by aboriginal tribes that lived in the area some 1,600 years ago. Indoors are displays of these First Nations residents, as well as explorers and European settlers who came later. The centre is open daily from 9am to 5pm spring and summer. Winters are by appointment only. For more details visit their website at: ancientechoes.ca By Lee Hart
“Hunter of the Prairie Sea” Swift Current Museum’s main exhibit features “Hunter of the Prairie Sea” which is a Tylosaurus (TIE-low-SORE-us) skeleton, over 9.75 m (32 ft) in length. This Tylosaurus is nicknamed “Omaciw” (oh-matchee-oh) which means “hunter” in Cree. It was discovered along the south shore of Lake Diefenbaker near Herbert in 1994. Tylosaurs were the largest of the Mosasaur species which swam in the Great North American Cretaceous Seaway that enveloped most of the continent about 70 million years ago. Many different species of Mosasaurs (MOES-ah-SAWRS) prowled the oceans and seas. “Omaciw” was only one species of Mosasaur.
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Photo courtesy of Swift Current Museum
