Big icthyosaur redux

["M. J. Murphy" <mjm@pathcom.com>]

This is the first news-update that I've come across related to the big
(20 metres, apparently) marine reptile find in Northern B.C.  Not quite
list related, though newsworld refers to the find as a "huge dinosaur".
______


                              Huge dinosaur fossil moved to Royal
                              Tyrell Museum
                              WebPosted Sat Sep 4 09:07:36 1999

                              DRUMHELLER, ALBERTA - The four-tonne skull
of a
                              220-million-year-old dinosaur has finally
reached the Royal
                              Tyrell Museum in Drumheller, Alberta,
eight years after it was
                              found near Fort St. John, B.C.



                              The dinosaur was an icthyosaur, a marine
creature whose
                              skull is about the size of a dump truck.

                              Scientists at the museum said it will take
about two years to
                              chip away limestone from the fossil before
it can be studied.

                              They said it took years to organize the
excavation of the skull.
                              It took until 1997 to organize funding and
equipment for the
                              dig. A giant logging helicopter was used
to lift the skull out.

                              The scientists will return to the site
next year to try to retrieve
                              the rest of the fossil.