Baby the Dinosaur and Philip Currie

The following segment from the University of Alberta's free online course Dino 101 features Dr. Philip Currie - an internationally renowned UAlberta paleontologist - explaining the significance of his discovery of a remarkably preserved, near-complete skeleton of a baby Chasmosaurus belli.

It's the first time anyone has found a baby of this species intact in 150 years of digs at Dinosaur Provincial Park—or anywhere for that matter.

The Chasmosaurus was a horned dinosaur once commonly found in Alberta's badlands, a relative of the Triceratops. Currie estimates the 1.5-metre-long fossilized baby was about three years old when it died, possibly from drowning, 72 million years ago.

The skeleton is fully intact minus the arms, which Currie says were likely eroded away by a sinkhole several thousand years ago, making it even more remarkable the rest was so well preserved.

This video clip forms part of one of the lessons featured in the University of Alberta's innovative online course Dino 101 . Dino 101 is the world's first paleobiology massive open online course (MOOC) and Canada's first MOOC available for credit to UAlberta students and available for credit-by-proxy for a fee to the world.

Learn more about dinosaurs by registering in Dino 101 at http://dino101.ca