Researchers Solve 72-Million-Year-Old Enigma of Dinosaur Mass Grave at ‘River of Death’ Beneath Lush Forest in Canada

Deep down in the dense forests of Alberta, Canada, lies an extraordinary prehistoric secret, hidden beneath layers of rock and earth for over 70 million years. It is a place that has baffled scientists for a very long time. A fossil-rich site where several dinosaur bones lie tangled together, whispering tales of a long-lost era. This location, known as ‘River of Death,’ is not just any fossil site; it is a mass grave, waiting to reveal the story of a deadly event from the Late Cretaceous period. The ‘River of Death’ refers to the Pipestone Creek bonebed, where thousands of dinosaur skeletons, mainly Pachyrhinosaurus, have been uncovered in a packed graveyard stretching for almost a kilometer, as per the BBC.

Led by Professor Emily Bamforth from the Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum, paleontologists embarked on a detailed excavation, determined to solve the mystery of how such a large number of these dinosaurs perished. Professor Bamforth remarked, "That big blob of bone right there is, we think, part of a hip… Then here, we have all of these long, skinny bones. These are all ribs. And this is a neat one - it's part of a toe bone. This one here, we have no idea what it is - it's a great example of a Pipestone Creek mystery," as per the BBC. The bones are so tightly packed that there are estimated to be up to 300 bones in every square meter of the site.

The dinosaurs that once roamed this area were Pachyrhinosaurus (herbivorous giants related to the more famous Triceratops). These creatures were about five meters long and weighed approximately two tons. They were unique because of their huge heads and a nasal bump called a boss. The fossilized remains span all ages, from juveniles to adults, offering details of their biology and social structure. Bamforth remarked, "It's jaw-dropping in terms of its density… It is, we believe, one of the largest bone beds in North America… More than half of the known dinosaur species in the world are described from a single specimen. We have thousands of Pachyrhinosaurus here," as per Newsweek.

Moreover, paleontologist Jackson Sweder shared, "Most of what we find here is a duck-billed dinosaur called Edmontosaurus. If this is a skull bone, this is a dinosaur that's large - probably 30ft (10m) long," as per the BBC. All the evidence points towards a deadly disaster, most probably a sudden and violent flash flood caused by a storm. Pachyrhinosaurus, being top-heavy and not adept swimmers, stood little chance. Bamforth remarked, "We believe that this was a herd on a seasonal migration that got tangled up in some catastrophic event that effectively wiped out, if not the entire herd, then a good proportion of it…"

Since the site’s discovery in 1973 by local science teacher Al Lakusta and subsequent investigation by paleontologist Philip J. Currie, who gave his name to the museum now leading the digs, the bonebed has become one of North America’s most important dinosaur fossil repositories, as per Newsweek. To date, over 8,000 bones have been collected, carefully cleaned, and analyzed, contributing to a greater understanding of dinosaur life and extinction events.