In Depth Ajnabia is a genus of hadrosaurid dinosaur that lived during the late Maastrichtian period towards the end of the Cretaceous period. Ajnabia made headlines in the paleontological world when it was described as this represented the first time that hadrosaurid dinosaur fossils had been found in Africa. Hadrosaurid dinosaurs were for a long … Read more
In Depth Latirhinus should not be confused with Altirhinus, as not only do they have similar sounding names (only difference being the position of the ’l’ and ’a’ at the start), both were hadrosaurs and both were named after the enlarged bony protuberances on their snouts. Latirhinus was a form of saurolophine hadrosaur, a type … Read more
In Depth Hypacrosaurus means ‘near the highest lizard’, and in this context the ‘lizard’ was actually the dinosaur Tyrannosaurus, one of the largest dinosaurs in the ecosystems of late Cretaceous North America, but only about a third larger than Hypacrosaurus in the largest individuals (twelve meters for large individual Tyrannosaurus compared to nine meters for … Read more
In Depth Arenysaurus was a late Cretaceous hadrosaurid dinosaur, and of extra significance since it was a lambeosaurine. This means that Arenysaurus had a hollow crest on its head, and lived in a time when lambeosaurine hadrosaurs had been largely replaced by saurolophine hadrosaurs in other parts of the world like in North America. Further … Read more
In Depth Nipponosaurus is classed as a lambeosaurine hadrosaurid because of the hollow head crest that rises up from the top of the snout, though the incomplete nature of the known remains makes it hard to establish fine details, and reconstructions are usually completed with comparisons to other better preserved genera. Also, because the fossils … Read more
In Depth The description of Velafrons is based upon the remains of a juvenile individual. This has allowed for an increased insight into how hadrosaurs developed as they grew up, though the case of Velafrons is a little different. Most hadrosaurs known from juvenile individuals show a proportionately large skull in relation to the body … Read more
In Depth Out of all the hadrosaurs (popularly known as duckbilled dinosaurs) Aralosaurus is noted for having extremely little in the way of fossil material attributed to it; a piece of the skull. This piece however does suggest the presence of an arched nasal area similar to that seen in other genera such as Gryposaurus … Read more
Lambeosaurus the dinosaur Lambeosaurus is one of the hadrosaurs that is frequently depicted in dinosaur books and toys, and study of this genus is required learning for anyone who wishes to know more about the hadrosaurs in general. Lambeosaurus is best known from Canada and upper Montana USA, although other attributed fossils in the past … Read more
In Depth At up to nine meters long Maiasaura was not amongst the largest known hadrosaurid dinosaurs, though it still tipped the scale to be considered big for its kind. Like with its hadrosaurid relatives, Maiasaura is thought to have been a primarily bipedal dinosaur, though one that was at least capable of balancing if … Read more
In Depth Telmatosaurus was originally named as Limnosaurus transsylvanicus, however after this naming in transpired that the genus name Limnosaurus had already been used by the American palaeontologist Othniel Charles Marsh to name a crocodile (later it would actually be declared a synonym of Pristichampsus). The original name came about from the popular idea of … Read more