Kerberosaurus

Ker-be-ro-sore-us.
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Maeve Foster

Paleoclimatologist

Maeve Foster explores the Earth's climatic past to understand the forces that shaped life on our planet. Her research into ancient climate events provides valuable context for current environmental challenges.

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Name

Kerberosaurus ‭(‬Kerberos lizard‭)‬.

Phonetic

Ker-be-ro-sore-us.

Named By

Y.‭ ‬L.‭ ‬Bolotsky‭ & ‬P.‭ ‬Godefroit‭ ‬-‭ ‬2004.

Classification

Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Dinosauria,‭ ‬Ornithischia,‭ ‬Ornithopoda,‭ ‬Hadrosauridae,‭ ‬Saurolophinae.

Diet

Herbivore.

Species

K.‭ ‬manakini‭

Size

Uncertain due to lack of fossil remains, but estimates range about 8 meters total body length.

Known locations

Russia,‭ ‬Amur Region‭ ‬-‭ ‬Tsagayan Formation.

Time Period

Maastrichtian of the Cretaceous.

Fossil representation

Partial skull.

In Depth

       Because of‭ ‬a‭ ‬current lack of fossils for this genus,‭ ‬the only thing that can be said with any certainty is that Kerberosaurus was a saurolophine hadrosaurid,‭ ‬the group of hadrosaurs noted‭ ‬to have solid head crests like those of Saurolophus.‭ ‬The skull remains of Kerberosaurus were discovered in a bone bed of other Mesozoic animals including the lambeosaurine hadrosaurid Amurosaurus,‭ ‬though as a saurolophine hadrosaurid,‭ ‬Kerberosaurus would have been a distantly related but similar hadrosaur as Amurosaurus‭ (‬lambeosaurine hadrosaurids like Amurosaurus are so named because they have hollow head crests similar to that of the groups type genus Lambeosaurus‭)‬.

Further Reading

‭ – A new hadrosaurine dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Far Eastern Russia. – Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 24 (2): 351–365. – Y. L. Bolotsky & P. Godefroit – 2004.

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