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Sometimes, important treasures can be found right under your nose!
That’s what happened with this new species of horned dinosaur,
now featured prominently in the Canadian Museum of Nature’s Talisman Energy Fossil Gallery.
Named Chasmosaurus irvinensis, this dinosaur roamed Western Canada more than 70 million years ago.
The skeleton was unearthed in 1958 in Alberta.
It was identified in the field as a type of chasmosaur
then sealed up in a plaster jacket and stored in the Museum’s collections.
Forty years later, Museum staff opened the jacket and made an unexpected find.
They discovered that the dinosaur had large openings, or chasms, in its skull.
Further research revealed that it was an entirely new species of Chasmosaurus.
Today, Museum visitors can visit the Fossil Gallery and see the nearly complete skeleton
as well as a dramatic 3D animation showing the death- to-life transformation of Chasmosaurus irvinensis.