What is Dinosaur Provincial Park?
{{Infobox Historic Site | name = Dinosaur Provincial Park | image = Chasmosaurus belli RTM 01.jpg | caption = ''[[Chasmosaurus|Chasmosaurus belli]]'', which was found in the Park, on display at the [[Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology]] | locmapin = Canada Alberta | coordinates = {{coord|50|45|42|N|111|29|06|W|display=inline,title}} | location = [[County of Newell]] / [[Special Area No. 2]], near [[Brooks, Alberta|Brooks]]<br>[[Alberta]] | area = {{convert|73.29|km2}} | governing_body = [[Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation]] | founded = 1955 | designation1 = IUCN III | designation1_free1name = Provincial Park of Alberta | designation1_free1value = 1955 | designation2 = WHS | designation2_date = 1979 <small>(3rd [[World Heritage Committee|session]])</small> | designation2_number = [http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/71 71] | designation2_criteria = vii, viii | designation2_type = Natural | designation2_free1name = Country | designation2_free1value = [[Canada]] | designation2_free2name = Region | designation2_free2value = [[List of World Heritage Sites in North America|Europe and North America]] }} [[File:AlbertaBadlands1.jpg|right|250px|thumb|A view of the [[erosion|eroded]] badlands]] [[File:Dinosaur Provincial Park 01.jpg|right|250px|thumb|More badlands]] [[File:Dinosaur provincial Park.jpg|right|250px|thumb|The badlands near the entrance of the park]] '''Dinosaur Provincial Park''' is a [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Site]]. It is about two and a half hours drive southeast of [[Calgary, Alberta|Calgary]], [[Alberta]], [[Canada]]. The park is in the valley of the [[Red Deer River]], which is noted for its [[badland]] topography. The park is one of the richest [[dinosaur]] fossil locales in the world. Forty dinosaur species have been discovered at the park and more than 500 specimens have been removed and exhibited in museums across the globe. The fossil assemblage of nearly 500 species, from microscopic [[fern]] [[spore]]s to large carnivorous dinosaurs, justified it becoming a [[World Heritage Site]] in 1979.