Saurolophus

Saurolophus was a duck-billed dinosaur. It lived during the Upper Cretaceous period, 69.5-68.5 million years ago, toward the end of the Mesozoic Era.

Saurolophus Temporal range: Upper Cretaceous
Conservation status
Fossil
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Sauropsida
Superorder:	Dinosauria
Order:	Ornithischia
Infraorder:	Ornithopoda
Family:	Hadrosauridae
Subfamily:	Hadrosaurinae
Genus:	Saurolophus Brown, 1912

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

• Saurolophus excavation.jpg

  Photo from the excavation of S. osborni in 1911

• Saurolophus skulls.jpg

  Skulls in Moscow Paleontological Museum

• The size of the two Saurolophus species compared to humans

• Saurolophus skulls diagram.png

  Diagram with labelled skulls of S. angustirostris (A) and S. osborni (B)

• Saurolophus osborni.jpg

  Skull of the holotype specimen of S. osborni

• Crane de Saurolophus.jpg

  Skull of S. angustirostris

• Cranial ontogeny of S. angustirostris

• Saurolophus MPC-D 100 764 humerus injuries.png

  Left humerus of S. angustirostris MPC-D 100/764, showing multiple bite marks

• Homalocephale and Saurolophus herd.jpg

  Restoration of a S. angustirostris herd in their native Nemegt Formation alongside a Homalocephale pair