Saurolophus
Saurolophus was a duck-billed dinosaur. It lived during the Upper Cretaceous period, 69.5-68.5 million years ago,[1] toward the end of the Mesozoic Era.
| Saurolophus Temporal range: Upper Cretaceous
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Fossil
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| Genus: | Saurolophus Brown, 1912
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Saurolophus had a 5 inch (13 cm) long bony spike extending up from its forehead. There is speculation that this spike was attached to a flap of skin that covered the nostrils and could be blown up for displays and noise-making. Many Saurolophus fossils have been found, including one with fossilized skin impressions, in Alberta, Canada and Mongolia, China.
Saurolophus Media
Photo from the excavation of S. osborni in 1911
Skulls in Moscow Paleontological Museum
The size of the two Saurolophus species compared to humans
Diagram with labelled skulls of S. angustirostris (A) and S. osborni (B)
Skull of the holotype specimen of S. osborni
Skull of S. angustirostris
Cranial ontogeny of S. angustirostris
Left humerus of S. angustirostris MPC-D 100/764, showing multiple bite marks
Restoration of a S. angustirostris herd in their native Nemegt Formation alongside a Homalocephale pair
References
- ↑ Arbour, Victoria M.; Burns, Michael E.; Sissons, Robin L. (2009). "A redescription of the ankylosaurid dinosaur Dyoplosaurus acutosquameus Parks, 1924 (Ornithischia: Ankylosauria) and a revision of the genus". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 29 (4): 1117–1135. doi:10.1671/039.029.0405. S2CID 85665879.