Most of Canada to receive emergency alert test today
The federal government will test its capacity to issue emergency alerts today, with the exception of Ontario, where the test will take place on May 15.
The skeleton of a 66-million-year-old giant Triceratops fossil could soon belong to a lucky dinosaur enthusiast -- that is, if they have an estimated 1.2 million euros (US$1.4 million) to spare.
The specimen, dubbed Big John, has a skull 2.62 meters (8 feet 7 inches) long and 2 meters (6 feet 7 inches) wide, while his two largest horns are 1.1 meters (3 feet 7 inches) long and more than 30 centimeters (11.8 inches) wide at their base, able to withstand 16 tons of pressure, according to auctioneers Binoche et Giquello.
The dinosaur lived in Laramidia, an island continent which stretched from present day Alaska to Mexico, and perished in an ancient flood plain currently known as the Hell Creek formation in South Dakota, where he was discovered by geologist Walter W. Stein Bill in May 2014. The dinosaur was excavated a year later, and later restored in Italy, the company said in a statement.
The creature's remains were preserved in mud, and the skeleton is more than 60% complete and with a 75% complete skull. However, Big John does bear the wounds of a difficult life, with a laceration in his collar from an altercation with a smaller triceratops, which the auctioneers said was due to territorial defense or courtship of a mate.
With three horns, a parrot-like beak and a "frill" that could span nearly 1 meter used to protect the neck or attract a mate, the Triceratops skull is one of the largest and "most striking" of any land animal, according to the UK's Natural History Museum.
The herbivorous animals could reach up to 5,500 kilograms (866 stone) and 9 meters (29 feet) in length.
At 8 meters, Big John is the biggest Triceratops specimen ever found, the auctioneers said.
The creatures roamed the Earth during the Late Cretaceous period, some 68-66 million years ago in what is now the modern day USA.
Big John is expected to fetch between 1.2 million euros ($1.4 million) and 1.5 million euros ($1.7 million) at auction on October 21 at the Drouot auction house in Paris.
This is not the first time a dinosaur skeleton has gone on sale.
The sale of one of the world's most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeletons smashed auction estimates last year, when it sold for $31.8 million, setting a new world record for any dinosaur skeleton or fossil ever sold at auction.
However, such sales have raised concerns from paleontologists in the past. In September last year, the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP), which represents more than 2,000 professionals and students, wrote to Christie's auction house about Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton Stan going under the hammer.
The SVP said: "Fossil specimens that are sold into private hands are potentially lost to science." The organization added: "Even if made accessible to scientists, information contained within privately owned specimens and future access cannot be guaranteed, and therefore verification of scientific claims (the essence of scientific progress) cannot be performed."
The federal government will test its capacity to issue emergency alerts today, with the exception of Ontario, where the test will take place on May 15.
Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, has made headlines with his recent arrival in the U.K., this time to celebrate all things Invictus. But upon the prince landing in the U.K., we have already had confirmation that King Charles III won't have time to see his youngest son during his brief visit.
An Ontario man found out that a line of credit he thought was insured actually isn't after his wife of 50 years died.
After more than a century, Boy Scouts of America is rebranding as Scouting America, another major shakeup for an organization that once proudly resisted change.
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
In March, Indonesian officials and local fishermen rescued 75 people from the overturned hull of a boat off the coast of Indonesia. Until now, little was known about why the boat capsized.
An Ontario woman said it would have been impossible to buy a house without her mother – an anecdote that animates the fact that over 17 per cent of Canadian homeowners born in the ‘90s own their property with their parents, according to a new report.
A long-simmering feud between hip-hop superstars Drake and Kendrick Lamar reached a boiling point in recent days as the pair traded increasingly personal insults on a succession of diss tracks. Here’s a quick overview of what’s behind the ongoing beef.
When Speaker Greg Fergus tossed out Pierre Poilievre from the House last week, "those of us who have experience as parliamentarians simply couldn't believe our eyes," writes former NDP leader Tom Mulcair in his column for CTVNews.ca
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
Whether passionate about Poirot or hungry for Holmes, Winnipeg mystery obsessives have had a local haunt for over 30 years in which to search out their latest page-turners.
Eighty-two-year-old Susan Neufeldt and 90-year-old Ulrich Richter are no spring chickens, but their love blossomed over the weekend with their wedding at Pine View Manor just outside of Rosthern.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.