In 2020, a 12-year-old boy named Nathan Hrushkin made an incredible discovery while on a family picnic in Horseshoe Canyon, located in the badlands of Alberta, Canada. While exploring the area, Nathan and his father, Dion, stumbled upon what appeared to be a large, fossilized bone protruding from the ground.
Excited by the find, they began digging and soon uncovered an enormous dinosaur skeleton. They contacted the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology, which sent a team to the site to excavate the bones.
Over the next several months, the team carefully unearthed the remains of a young hadrosaur, a plant-eating dinosaur that roamed the Earth during the Late Cretaceous period, about 69 million years ago. The dinosaur was estimated to be around 3-4 years old at the time of its death, and its fossilized bones were remarkably well-preserved.
The discovery was particularly noteworthy because hadrosaurs are one of the most common types of dinosaurs found in Alberta, but finding a complete skeleton is rare. Moreover, the fact that Nathan, a young boy, made the discovery added to the story’s appeal and drew international attention.
The Royal Tyrrell Museum named the dinosaur “Horseshoe Canyon hadrosaur” in honor of the location where it was found. Nathan and his father were also recognized for their discovery and were invited to assist in the excavation process.
The discovery serves as a reminder that scientific breakthroughs can come from unexpected sources, and that anyone, regardless of age or background, has the potential to make important contributions to the world of science.