Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/370921
22 g o i n g p l a c e s | F a l l 2 0 1 4 the very lowest level (known as the Lower Gammon Ferruginous) an assortment of fos- silized bones belonging to several different creatures. But as they carefully dug around them, they found something stupendous: held in the jaws of a giant Xiphactinus fish (known as the bulldog tarpon) was part of a fl ipper belonging to a Clidastes, the smallest mosasaur. e area was dubbed the Xiphacti- nus Kill Zone, for it seemed to the paleon- tologists that the mosasaur had been viciously attacked and killed right here. After all, how could a mosasaur have sur vived the loss of a fl ipper? It is rare to fi nd such caught-in-the act evi- dence from so very long ago. It is, as Matt Remple, the museum blogger and fi eld tech- nologist wrote, "an incredible paleontological detective story." And it's one that is still being written as experts examine other bones from the site, looking for telltale scratches and bite marks from other creatures, including giant sharks. A single shark's tooth was also found in this killing fi eld. Of course, there are less thrilling explana- tions: perhaps Xiphactinus was merely scaveng- ing a dead mosasaur. Perhaps both creatures died separately and their bones became mixed together. I prefer the gutsier Kill Zone theory, and so, apparently, does the Discovery Centre. e damning evidence of the crime, the jaw and fl ipper, are displayed in an exhibit labelled the Ferruginous Face Off – as if the two monsters are still battling it out. The mosasaur remains we are looking at now, only half the size of Bruce, rest in a layer just above this Kill Zone and could be covering other fossils. ere is pressure to get this baby out of here! The Ditch is a rich site. Delaquis points out the mosasaur's rib and jaw fragments, vertebrae and a few fi nger bones (phalanges). The round piece in the middle of the site is likely the part of the spine where a flipper attaches. Around this are various fi sh bones and other fossils. "What are we looking for? Anything spe- cial?" I ask. "Just dig around the edges of the reddish section to see what you can find," Delaquis replies. "We need more mosasaur bones, especially his skull." Also interspersed among the shale crum- bles are "Pembina diamonds" – small colour- less crystals of Selenite that sparkle just like the mint Got coin? Here's the perfect gift for the fossil nut in your family: the Royal Canadian Mint has issued a 25-cent coin with a glow-in-the- dark Tiktaalik (that's a 375-million-year- old sh) on its front. It will, of course, cost you much more than a quarter: they are on sale at the Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre and the Winnipeg Mint for $30 a piece. But be quick. Coined in 2014, these popular creatures might soon become extinct themselves. mint.ca –L.B.