It香蕉视频直播檚 a dinosaur that roamed Alberta香蕉视频直播檚 badlands more than 70 million years ago, sporting a big, bumpy, bony head the size of a baby elephant.

On Wednesday, paleontologists near Grande Prairie pulled its 272-kilogram skull from the ground.

They call it 香蕉视频直播淏ig Sam.香蕉视频直播�

The adult Pachyrhinosaurus is the second plant-eating dinosaur to be unearthed from a dense bonebed belonging to a herd that died together on the edge of a valley that now sits 450 kilometres northwest of Edmonton.

It didn香蕉视频直播檛 die alone.

香蕉视频直播淲e have hundreds of juvenile bones in the bonebed, so we know that there are many babies and some adults among all of the big adults,香蕉视频直播� Emily Bamforth, a paleontologist with the nearby Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum, said in an interview on the way to the dig site.

She described the horned Pachyrhinosaurus as 香蕉视频直播渢he smaller, older cousin of the triceratops.香蕉视频直播�

香蕉视频直播淭his species of dinosaur is endemic to the Grand Prairie area, so it香蕉视频直播檚 found here and nowhere else in the world. They are 香蕉视频直播� kind of about the size of an Indian elephant and a rhino,香蕉视频直播� she added.

The head alone, she said, is about the size of a baby elephant.

The discovery was a long time coming.

The bonebed was first discovered by a high school teacher out for a walk about 50 years ago. It took the teacher a decade to get anyone from southern Alberta to come to take a look.

香蕉视频直播淎t the time, sort of in the 香蕉视频直播�70s and 香蕉视频直播�80s, paleontology in northern Alberta was virtually unknown,香蕉视频直播� said Bamforth.

When paleontogists eventually got to the site, Bamforth said, they learned 香蕉视频直播渋t香蕉视频直播檚 actually one of the densest dinosaur bonebeds in North America.香蕉视频直播�

香蕉视频直播淚t contains about 100 to 300 bones per square metre,香蕉视频直播� she said.

Paleontologists have been at the site sporadically ever since, combing through bones belonging to turtles, dinosaurs and lizards. Sixteen years ago, they discovered a large skull of an approximately 30-year-old Pachyrhinosaurus, which is now at the museum.

About a year ago, they found the second adult: Big Sam.

Bamforth said both dinosaurs are believed to have been the elders in the herd.

香蕉视频直播淭heir distinguishing feature is that, instead of having a horn on their nose like a triceratops, they had this big, bony bump called a boss. And they have big, bony bumps over their eyes as well,香蕉视频直播� she said.

香蕉视频直播淚t makes them look a little strange. It香蕉视频直播檚 the one dinosaur that if you find it, it香蕉视频直播檚 the only possible thing it can be.香蕉视频直播�

The genders of the two adults are unknown.

Bamforth said the extraction was difficult because Big Sam was intertwined in a cluster of about 300 other bones.

The skull was found upside down, 香蕉视频直播渁s if the animal was lying on its back,香蕉视频直播� but was well preserved, she said.

She said the excavation process involved putting plaster on the skull and wooden planks around if for stability. From there, it was lifted out 香蕉视频直播� very carefully 香蕉视频直播� with a crane, and was to be shipped on a trolley to the museum for study.

香蕉视频直播淚 have extracted skulls in the past. This is probably the biggest one I香蕉视频直播檝e ever done though,香蕉视频直播� said Bamforth.

香蕉视频直播淚t香蕉视频直播檚 pretty exciting.香蕉视频直播�