Huge dinosaur fossil moved to Royal Tyrell Museum

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.