While hiking with his father through Alberta’s Horseshoe Canyon, 12-year-oldNathan Hrushkin stumbled upon a fossil jutting from the rock. It turned out to be part of a 69-million-year-old dinosaur, later identified as a juvenile hadrosaur. What began as a summer outing ended in a rare and scientifically valuable discovery.
The find was reported to the Royal Tyrrell Museum, which quickly confirmed its authenticity. The area, under the protection of the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), yielded not just a single bone but dozens more, all belonging to the same dinosaur. The fossil came from a geological layer where such remains are uncommon, making the find even more significant to researchers.
A Rare Discovery in a Rarely Studied Layer
The fossil Nathan Hrushkin found came from a part of the canyon where dinosaur remains are not commonly recovered. According to a video published on CNN, the site contains sedimentary layers dated between 71 and 68 million years ago, including ash, sandstone, and mudstone. These conditions are favorable for fossilization but had not been explored in depth until the Hrushkins’ find brought attention to them.
Once the image was reviewed, museum paleontologists confirmed the fragment belonged to a juvenile hadrosaur. They visited the site and excavated 30 to 50 additional bones, all believed to come from the same animal. The rarity of fossils in that specific geological layer was a point of interest. As Dion Hrushkin, Nathan’s father, told All That’s Interesting:
“This young hadrosaur is a very important discovery because it comes from a time interval for which we know very little about what kind of dinosaurs or animals lived in Alberta,” he stated. “Nathan and Dion’s find will help us fill this big gap in our knowledge of dinosaur evolution.”
Preserving Land to Advance Science
The discovery was made within the Nodwell property, a protected area managed by the Nature Conservancy of Canada. In a statement months after the excavation, the NCC emphasized the dual role of such conservation sites. According to the organization:
“The discovery of this dinosaur on a conservation site demonstrates the need for land conservation, not just to ensure the conservation of wild spaces for future generations, but also as an opportunity to learn about our natural heritage.”
This dual purpose was highlighted by the fact that the fossil had remained untouched for tens of millions of years in a zone protected from development. It allowed experts to recover the specimen in near-intact condition. The bones were later removed from the site in protective jackets made from burlap and plaster and brought to a lab for further examination.
A Personal Victory That Felt Huge
For Nathan Hrushkin, the discovery was a glimpse into a future he’s long dreamed about. One where his childhood passion could one day become a real scientific career.
“For me it’s just amazing because I’ve been aspiring to be a paleontologist for as long as I can remember,” he said in an interview. “So to actually find something significant is pretty amazing.”
According to François Therrien, paleontologist at the Royal Tyrrell Museum, hadrosaurs were likely as common in Alberta during the Late Cretaceous as deer are today. Still, juvenile fossils like the one Nathan discovered are rare, giving scientists a better look at how these dinosaurs grew and developed.