5" Ceratopsian Vertebra Centrum - Alberta (Disposition #000024-25)

Ceratopsian Vertebra Centrum - Alberta (Disposition #-) #111117

First, a note on the legality of this fossil. Alberta has very strict laws pertaining to fossil collection. Fossils may not be removed from the province of Alberta without permission from the government. To gain ownership of a fossil, you must be issued a Disposition Certificate. Currently only a few fossil types are eligible for disposition. These include ammonites, petrified wood, leaves and fossil oysters.

This specimen is part of a collection of dinosaur material that was collected by a single individual (Steve Walchina) decades ago, prior to the current law. Because it was collected before the law went into effect, the collection was "grandfathered" in. The collection was reviewed by the Royal Tyrrell Museum and a disposition certificate issued for portions of it that were not considered scientifically significant. This moved the fossils into private ownership and allowed them to be removed from the province. The disposition certificate (#000024-25) is on file with the Royal Tyrrell Museum. This makes the small amount of Alberta dinosaur fossils we recently acquired from this collection some of the only legal Alberta dinosaur material on the market.

This is a 5.0" wide vertebra centrum of an unidentified species of Ceratopsian dinosaur from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation, Alberta. It is the centrum only. The processes are missing. This specimen, likely a caudal vertebrae, is weathered but in good condition with repaired cracks.

There are half a dozen species of Ceratopsians found in this formation including Anchiceratops and Pachyrhinosaurus. It is impossible to identify a species from an isolated vertebra.

Ceratopsians are a group of plant-eating dinosaurs from the Cretaceous characterized by a bony frill on the back of the skull and a unique upper beak bone, called a rostral. Ceratopsians ranged in size from 1 meter (3 ft) and 23 kilograms (50 lb) to over 9 meters (30 ft) and 9,100 kg (20,100 lb). Triceratops is by far the best-known ceratopsian to the general public.