Dinos, meet drones: How new technology could reshape the fossil record

CBC

01-06-2025

A new study is challenging a long-standing method of dating dinosaur fossils in Alberta's Dinosaur Provincial Park — using drone technology.
Previously, one of the methods paleontologists have used to date fossils in the UNESCO World Heritage Site is by measuring how high or low skeletons were found above a distinct boundary where two major rock layers meet. That boundary serves as a time stamp that fossils are dated in relation to.
But this method gives only a rough age estimate, according to Alexandre Demers-Potvin, the study's lead author and PhD student at McGill University's Redpath Museum.
He and his team used drones to capture over 1,000 high-resolution images of a section of the park and recreated it as a 3D model.
The findings, published in the journal Palaeontologia Electronica, show that the boundary used to date fossils in the park actually fluctuates in elevation by as much as 12 metres in relatively short distances.
That means the reference point itself varies and could be throwing off the estimated ages of fossils measured against it. The drone method, however, brings a new level of precision to fossil dating in the park.
"This is easily one of the studies of which I'm proudest," said Demers-Potvin. "It feels great because this is the kind of work that takes years to complete," he said, citing the collaborative effort between researchers and students who contributed to the study.
He said drone-assisted 3D modelling "might be a promising way to better understand which dinosaur fossils are actually older than others in that part of Alberta."
"If you're able to take a step back by looking at a larger area from the air, it's easier to notice those small differences."
Taking to the sky
In 2018, Demers-Potvin began exploring a key fossil site in the park called "Bonebed 190," alongside a crew of McGill's vertebrate paleontology field course researchers.
This particular section proved to have a rich biodiversity and high preservation quality of fossils, which sparked a long-term project to further research the area.
Demers-Potvin and his team introduced drones to the mix in 2021, taking pictures from above, while a ground team placed down markers using a GPS in order to better geolocate the final 3D rendering.
Using a technique called structure-from-motion photogrammetry, they stitched the photos together to construct a detailed 3D model of the terrain.
"The quality of the images of that model enabled us to essentially split all those hills into overlying rock layers … which means that we essentially split this whole section [into] different time zones, and this is something that hasn't been done very often for that kind of rock outcrop before," Demers-Potvin explained.
The researchers say this application of 3D modelling may be a more reliable tool to date fossils, correcting previous estimates and filling in the gaps that exist in the current timeline.
Drones help piece together more accurate fossil record
Emily Bamforth, a paleontologist and curator at the Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum in northwestern Alberta, said drone use is becoming increasingly common in her field.
She is not affiliated with the study but said McGill's research is important to understanding the fossil record with accuracy and placing fossils in both a spatial and temporal context.
"In the last two decades, there has … been a shift in dinosaur paleontology away from isolated specimens and towards understanding the broader environments and ecosystems in which these animals lived and how they changed over time," she said.
"In this, the stratigraphic context in which a fossil is found is critical, to the point that where a fossil is found is as important as the fossil itself."
Although Dinosaur Provincial Park is a well-researched site, Demers-Potvin hopes to continue refining what they already know with drone technology — potentially gaining more insight into the biodiversity of an ancient world.
"I think we're getting away from that older method [of dating], and I think now we're just filling the gaps between one data point and another data point and that entire stack of sedimentary rock layers that you can find in the badlands," Demers-Potvin said.
"This is only the first step as part of a much bigger project where we hope to cover the entire park."