Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre

The town of Morden, Manitoba, roughly 130 km southwest of Winnipeg, is home to certified monster. His name is Bruce and 43 feet long, he is the largest mosasaur skeleton in the world. Discovered nearby in 1974, Bruce lives inside the Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre.

This museum in southern Manitoba officially opened in 1979 and is home to Canada’s largest marine reptile fossil collection. As we know, Bruce and his kin are not technically dinosaurs, even though we all think of them as such. Since Bruce’s discovery, many more mosasaur and plesiosaur specimens have been found in the Cretaceous shales of the former Western Interior Seaway.

The Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre now has a collection of over 1500 fossil specimens. It continues to support research and has a laboratory. The collection also includes plants and birds as well as rocks and minerals. Plans and fundraising are underway to build a new, larger facility to attract even more geology lovers.

If you have diverse interests, the Manitoba Baseball Museum is right next door. Not the most common museum pairing but just the kind of quirk that makes small town exploration so fun. Help support a small town and make the new Discovery Centre a reality. Oh, and say hi to Bruce.