Parasaurolophus

Parasaurolophus is a genus of hadrosaurid "duck-billed" dinosaur that lived in what is now western North America and possibly Asia during the Late Cretaceous period, about 76.5–73 million years ago. It was a large herbivore that could reach over 9 metres (30 ft) long and weigh over 5 metric tons, and were able to move as a biped and a quadruped. Three species are universally recognized: P. walkeri, P. tubicen, and the short-crested P. cyrtocristatus. Additionally, a fourth species, P. jiayinensis, has been proposed, although it is more commonly placed in the separate genus Charonosaurus. Remains are known from Alberta, New Mexico, and Utah, as well as possibly Heilongjiang if Charonosaurus is in fact part of the genus. The genus was first described in 1922 by William Parks from a skull and partial skeleton found in Alberta.

A picture published with the record for Parasaurolophus.

Zissoudisctrucker · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
ParasaurolophiniPBDB
Diet
herbivorePBDB, for Ornithopoda
Life habit
ground dwelling, gregariousPBDB, for Ornithischia
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Ornithischia
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Ornithischia
Length
10 mWikidata
Mass
2.5 tonneWikidata

Time the record covers

At most 12 million years on record.

Every occurrence read is dated to somewhere between 83.6 Mya and 72.2 Mya, and nothing in the dating separates them, so that window is what the record shows rather than a span.

Late Cretaceous — about 20 of 20 occurrencesLate Cretaceous84–83 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences83–83 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences83–82 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences82–82 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences82–82 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences82–81 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences81–81 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences81–80 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences80–80 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences80–80 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences80–79 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences79–79 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences79–78 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences78–78 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences78–77 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences77–77 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences77–77 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences77–76 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences76–76 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences76–75 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences75–75 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences75–75 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences75–74 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences74–74 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences74–73 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences73–73 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences73–73 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences73–72 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences84.1 Mya71.7 Mya

20 occurrences of Parasaurolophus on record, most of them in the Late Cretaceous. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

20 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

5 formations

Kirtland — 36.10°N, 108.09°WKirtland — 36.50°N, 108.08°WKirtland — 36.37°N, 108.26°WKirtland — 36.31°N, 108.05°WKirtland — 36.34°N, 108.21°WKirtland — 36.34°N, 108.08°WDinosaur Park — 50.75°N, 111.49°WDinosaur Park — 50.74°N, 111.57°WDinosaur Park — 50.73°N, 111.51°WFruitland — 35.95°N, 108.00°WFruitland — 36.28°N, 108.26°WFruitland — 36.28°N, 108.15°WKaiparowits — 37.68°N, 111.78°WKaiparowits — 37.67°N, 111.73°WFruitland/Kirtland — 36.24°N, 108.19°W

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The named rock units Parasaurolophus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed.

Parasaurolophus and its relatives

Late Cretaceous

Where Parasaurolophus and its relatives were recorded in the Late Cretaceous.

Found in the same rock

19 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 19 sites for Parasaurolophus, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

14 references

Each of the 20 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 2 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content3

Picture of Parasaurolophus

Credit
Zissoudisctrucker
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

Structured light scan

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Parasaurolophus cyrtocristatus · dmnh:epv:132300

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itParasaurolophini through timeFormations of the Late CretaceousThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Parks 1922