Pink Mountain

North of Fort St. John, Pink Mountain has yielded various fossils including those of ichthyosaurs and various small clams. Over the past few years paleontologists and their volunteers have been working at the site, where they first removed an ichthysaur skull a few years ago.

Ichthyosaur Rib Fossilized Ichthyosaur rib at the Pink Mountain site.

Ichthyosaur Rib

Ichthyosaur Rib Fossilized Ichthyosaur as the above, but wt so it is easier to see the shells that surround the Ichthyosaur. These shells made it more difficult to remove the rock from around the fossil because it was harder than normal rock.

Ichthyosaur Rib

Ichthyosaur Ribs Fossilized group of Ichthyosaur ribs.

Icthyosaur Ribs

Ichthyosaur Fossil This picture shows the image above from a further distance away. The broom head provides a scale for the picture.

Ichthyosaur

Ichthyosaur Skull The first to be excavated, this incomplete skull (eye to the back of the skull) weighed two and a half tons alone, and was 5-6 feet long.

Ichthyosaur Skull

The Site A good picture showing the situation of the excavation site. The fossil itself is just below the gear (look for the yellow), against the grassy bank (also, look for the white sections in the rock to help spot it).

Excavation Site

Fossil An up close view of the fossil. The white line in the picture is the spray-painted grid.

Fossil

Ichthyosaur Spine The section of the spine that reaches into the bottom portion of the Ichthyosaur's tail. The rest of the Ichthyosaur fossil is towards the top of the image.

Icthyosaur Spine

Ichthyosaur Fossil More ichthyosaur fossil.

Fossil

Grid Map An example of how palaeontologists transfer where the fossil lies in the ground to a grid.

Grid Map

Vertebrae An ichthyosaur vertebrae from the site.

Vertebrae

Spine A section of another Ichthyosaur spine. It was found underneath the other Ichthyosaur.

Spine