CALGARY - It's not just black gold that's being mined from northern Alberta's oilsands — the area is also yielding a virtual treasure trove of ancient fossils.
The area, which contains one of the largest proven crude oil reserves in the world, was once covered by an ancient sea.
Last week, Maggy Horvath, a heavy equipment operator at Syncrude, unearthed a nearly complete plesiosaur fossil during her shift.


Alberta's oilsands are in an area that was once part of a prehistoric sea and have yielded several important marine reptile fossils. The last one found in 2000 was declared to be one of the most complete Cretaceous Ichthyosaurs of its age ever discovered in North America.