EXCAVATION COMPLETED OF A 37 MILLION-YEAR-OLD BRONTOTHERE SKELETON

Released on September 10, 1996

A 37 million-year-old Brontothere skeleton, discovered last May near
Simmie, Saskatchewan was removed from an ancient river bed deposit
yesterday by staff and volunteers of the Eastend Fossil Research
Station and the Royal Saskatchewan Museum. The Brontothere fossil,
discovered by Lorna Irish, a volunteer from Simmie, will be prepared
for study at the research station, a satellite facility of the museum.

Brontotheres are not dinosaurs but rather a common North American
fossil mammal distantly related to the rhinoceros. They stood about
two metres tall at the shoulders and their unique feature was a short,
horn-like structure above their snout, probably used for display or
fighting. They were herbivores and browsed on soft vegetation.

Brontothere fossil fragments are often found in ancient river sand and
gravel deposits in southwestern Saskatchewan, but they are rarely
discovered with the bones in sequence such as the Simmie find.

The specimen is only the second Brontothere skeleton to be found in
Saskatchewan. A previous one was found in the Eastend area in 1973.
Replicas of it can be seen at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum in Regina,
the Royal Tyrell Museum in Drumheller, and at the Eastend Historical
Museum.

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For more information contact:

Maureen Boyle
Saskatchewan Municipal Government
Regina Phone: (306) 787-5959