The Ginko plant has been around for over 270 million years according to scientific studies but only one variant the Ginko Biloba from 65 million years ago exists today.

The Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology located at Drumheller in Alberta currently has a new exhibit Grounds for Discovery now showing so we decided to gather up adults and children and headed North East following again rich farmlands where the wheat was already stripped and silage fields had yielded large quantities of baled silage.

Usually one expects to find that these places are old stuffy museums but The Royal Tyrrell has a strong emphasis on research as the area of NortherN Alberta has yielded a rich supply of fossils.

They also pride themselves in changing exhibits most of which depict their research.

They also provide many interactive exhibits that serve as a teaching tool.

These also include camps and locational camps at dig sites.

They also provide a number of children's programs and play areas.

They will even assist with homework and school assignments.

The museum is located on the area of an old township of Midland that was a coal mining area but with many deaths the town died.

However with coal and the area previously being a coastal area and subjected to a warm humid climate the conditions were ideal for maintaining trapped animals from the dinosaur era.

With the growth in the 1970-1980's of the energy boom much prospecting lead to the discovery of vast fields of fossils.

Thus Tyrrell Museum was established and financed as a research institution benefitting also from strict laws on reporting of fossils and use of qualified staff at development sites.