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Thursday's doodle shows a man standing among the big bones of dinosaurs in the Badlands of Alberta.

It is in honor of Joseph Burr Tyrrell, born 160 years ago in Weston, Ontario.

"It was a wonderful surprise," said Lisa Making, director of exhibitions and communications at the renowned Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology in Drumheller, Alberta.

The museum bears his name.

Tyrrell, who died in Toronto in 1957 at the age of 98, had worked for the Geological Survey of Canada.

After discovering coal near Fernie, British Columbia, he was sent to southern Alberta to lead a team of researchers exploring an area north of the Bow River.

They discovered coal deposits in the Red Deer River valley, which became the largest coal mining base in the country until Leduc discovered oil and gas in 1947.

"Drumheller has been the region that has fueled Canada for decades," said Making. "He was instrumental in getting Drumheller on the map for that."

She said that Tyrrell was out exploring the Badlands when he stumbled upon his next important discovery.

"It fell on that scary-looking skull buried in the hills, which is ironically only about five kilometers from the current location of the museum," said Making. "It shows how rich the region is in paleotological fossils and discoveries."

The skull was called Albertosaurus sarcophagus – Alberta's flesh eating lizard – in 1905, the same year that Alberta became a province.

Hoping that the Google doodle will help Canadians better understand their past.

"He's still an icon here at the museum," she said. "His discovery of Albertosaurus actually led to what is considered the first wave of fossil hunting in Canada and the many discoveries that have resulted in museums around the world."

On his website, Google states that doodles are modifications made to its usual logo to celebrate the holidays, birthdays and lives of famous artists, pioneers and scientists.

The company said it has created more than 2,000 doodles for its home pages around the world.

"A group of Googlers meets regularly to reflect and decide which events will be celebrated with a doodle," says the site. "Ideas for doodles come from many sources, including Googlers and Google users."

Marking said she would like to know who was behind Google's Thursday Doodle.

"I'd like to credit the scribble, but I can not," she says.

"I would like to know who suggested it and thank them. It meant a lot, really. "

Colette Derworiz, Canadian Press

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier misspelt version of Lisa Making's surname at the bottom of the story.

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