The significance of the theropod collections of the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology to our understanding of Late Cretaceous theropod diversity

Abstract

Significant specimens of theropod dinosaurs were part of the collections that were transferred to the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology when it split off from the Provincial Museum of Alberta in 1981. Collecting activity of the institution increased dramatically in the period leading up to the opening of the building and displays in 1985, and resulted in the recovery and preparation of many fine theropod skeletons. New specimens have been added to the collection every year since the museum opened. Several (mostly small) taxa are only represented by isolated bones, partial skeletons, and (or) teeth. Theropod specimens also include footprints, coprolites, eggs, and feathers in amber. Although theropods are relatively rare in comparison with herbivorous dinosaurs, the Tyrrell has managed to build one of the finest research collections of Late Cretaceous forms. Thirty-seven species of theropods in the Tyrrell are currently accepted as being valid, of which 30 are from the Upper Cretaceous deposits of Alberta.