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Brachylophosaurus

Say it: brak-i-LOH-fuh-SOR-us
Name means: “short-crested lizard”1
Ate: PlantsDuck-billsLate Cretaceous

Brachylophosaurus was a duck-billed dinosaur that lived in North America during the Late Cretaceous. It had a flat, bony crest on its head and a wide, duck-like beak. It probably ate plants and lived in herds.12

Lived
84 to 72 million years ago5
Late Cretaceous
Fossils found in
Alberta, Canada, and Montana, USA13
Length
8 to 9 m (26 to 30 ft)2
estimated adult length
Weight
2 tonnes to 4 tonnes (4,400 to 8,800 lb)2
Height
2.5 to 3 m (8.2 to 9.8 ft)2
at the hips
Top speed
about 25 km/h (16 mph)
Running, estimate
What did Brachylophosaurus eat?
It was a herbivore that ate leaves, conifers, ferns, algae, liverworts and flowering plants like magnolias. It was both a browser and a grazer.

When did it live?

Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

Brachylophosaurus about 9 m long (30 ft)A bicycle about 1.8 m (5.9 ft)A car about 4.5 m (15 ft)An elephant, the biggest land animal today about 6.5 m (21 ft)

How tall was it?

A dogabout 0.5 m (1.6 ft)A horseabout 1.6 m (5.2 ft)Brachylophosaurusabout 3 m tall (9.8 ft)An elephantabout 3.2 m (10 ft)

at the hips

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 2.5 cars
as long as 2 cars parked in a rowas long as 50 bananas end to endas heavy as 200 dogsas heavy as 800 watermelonsas heavy as 5 whole school classes of kidsas heavy as 9 polar bearscould run 100 metres in 14 seconds (the fastest human needs 9.6)

How big was Brachylophosaurus compared to YOU?

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How fast was it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

A nearly complete skeleton nicknamed 'Elvis' was found in Montana in 1994, and it is about 95% complete.1

2

A famous fossil called 'Leonardo' preserved stomach contents, showing what Brachylophosaurus actually ate.1

3

Brachylophosaurus had a flat, bony crest on its head, but scientists are not sure what it was used for.1

4

A bonebed in Montana contains at least 800 specimens of Brachylophosaurus, showing it lived in large groups.1

5

Brachylophosaurus lived between 83.6 and 72.2 million years ago, during the Campanian age.3

6

Skin impressions have been found on some Brachylophosaurus fossils, helping scientists understand its appearance.1

AI-madeAI-made picture of Brachylophosaurus
An AI-made picture of how Brachylophosaurus might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.
you asked

Most asked questions about Brachylophosaurus

?How big was Brachylophosaurus?

About 7 metres (23 feet) long. That is roughly the length of a large SUV or a small school bus.2

?What did Brachylophosaurus eat?

It was a herbivore that ate leaves, conifers, ferns, algae, liverworts and flowering plants like magnolias. It was both a browser and a grazer.1

?Did Brachylophosaurus have feathers?

No, it did not have feathers. Its skin impressions show small, polygonal scales and a row of triangular scales along its back.14

?Why did Brachylophosaurus have a crest?

Scientists are not sure. Some think it was used for pushing contests, but the crest may not have been strong enough for that.1

?When did Brachylophosaurus live?

It lived during the Late Cretaceous period, about 78.5 to 77.6 million years ago.1

?Is Brachylophosaurus a dinosaur?

Yes, it is a dinosaur. It is a type of hadrosaurid, or duck-billed dinosaur.21

Ask Rex about Brachylophosaurus

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Myth buster

Myth: Brachylophosaurus had a hollow crest like some other duck-billed dinosaurs.

Truth: Its crest was solid and flat, not hollow, and its purpose is still debated.1

For dino experts

Scientific name
Brachylophosaurus
Named by
Sternberg 19535
Group
Duck-bills
Family / clade
Hadrosauridae5
Classification
Ornithischia > Ornithopoda > Iguanodontia > Hadrosauridae5
Age of the rocks
84 to 72 million years (Campanian)5
Rock formations
Judith River, Oldman, Claggett5
Countries
USA, Canada5
Fossil records
8 in the Paleobiology Database5
Discovery
Charles Mortram Sternberg named Brachylophosaurus in 1953, based on a skull and skeleton he found in 1936 in Alberta, Canada.1
Still debated
Scientists still debate whether Brachylophosaurus goodwini was a separate species or just a younger version of Brachylophosaurus canadensis.1

Where the facts come from

  1. Brachylophosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
  2. Brachylophosaurus | Natural History Museum (nhm.ac.uk)
  3. PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
  4. Leonardo | Great Plains Dinosaur Museum and Field Station (greatplainsdinosaurs.org)
  5. Brachylophosaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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More from the same group: Duck-bills

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Also from the same time: Late Cretaceous

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