Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology

The Royal Tyrrell Museum is a popular Canadian tourist attraction. It is a leading centre of palaeontological research which has more than 130,000 fossils.

The museum is 6 kilometres (4 mi) from Drumheller, Alberta and 135 kilometres (84 mi) from Calgary. It is in the middle of the fossil-bearing strata of the Upper Cretaceous Horseshoe Canyon Formation. Its specimens come mainly from Dinosaur Provincial Park and the Devil's Coulee Dinosaur Egg Historic Nest Site.

The Royal Tyrrell Museum's mission is to "collect, preserve, research and interpret palaeontological history with special reference to Alberta’s fossil heritage".

History

The Museum is named in honour of Joseph Tyrrell, a geologist who discovered the first dinosaur in the Red Deer River Valley in 1884. The Museum opened September 25, 1985 and was given Royal status by Queen Elizabeth II in 1990. In its first year of operation, the Museum attracted over 500,000 visitors. The average annual number of visitors is about 400,000. In 2010 the museum welcomed its 10-millionth visitor, a young boy from Edmonton.

Collections and exhibits

More than 4,400 square metres (47,000 sq ft) of the museum's 11,200 square metres (121,000 sq ft) is dedicated to exhibits. There are chronological galleries celebrating the 3.9 billion year history of life on Earth. One of the most popular is "Dinosaur Hall", with almost 40 mounted dinosaur skeletons, including specimens of Tyrannosaurus rex and Albertosaurus. Other exhibits include "Lords of the Land"; "Burgess Shale"; "Devonian Reef", a life-size model of a 375 million year old reef; a "Cretaceous Garden", with over 600 living species of plants; "Age of Mammals"; and "Ice Ages".

"Triassic Giant" is a 1,700 square feet (160 m2) long specimen of the largest known marine reptile. The 21 metres (69 ft) long ichthyosaur Shonisaurus sikanniensis was recovered from the shores of the Sikanni Chief River in northeastern British Columbia.

A window into the "Preparation Lab" allows visitors to watch technicians as they carefully prepare fossils for research and exhibition. There are also tours of the badlands; the hands-on "Nexen Science Hall" with interactive exhibits; simulated fossil digs, and summer camps for children and families, and much more.

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Dean Smith
30 October 2013
One of the most incredible museums I've visited. Make sure you spend some time in the Lords of the Land room, which is more like an art gallery than a museum.
Brian Faulk
25 July 2013
We had a blast. I recommend taking the time to prebook tours and other activities... reasonably priced and worthwhile. We did Fossil Casting with the kids and the Badlands tour too, very fun!
Andrew Kurjata
28 July 2015
If you have a younger kid, get the two-day pass. For $6 extra, you can spread out the visit in case they get tired.
Carlos Juárez
31 July 2017
It’s a very good museum, they have a real Black Trex skeleton. There are tons of kids. Good for families
Maureen Cope
11 October 2012
What a great place to visit ~ a MUST SEE when visiting Alberta!!! Definitely worth it!!!!
Ale Rom
15 September 2015
Ideal para los niños es muy didáctico y explica muy bien cada periodo esta muy completo
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6.9/10
104,191 people have been here
Tue-Thu 10:00 AM–4:00 PM
Fri 10:00 AM–5:00 PM
Sat 9:00 AM–6:00 PM
Sun 10:00 AM–6:00 PM

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