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Lophorhothon

Say it: LOF-oh-ROTH-on

Name means: “crested nose”1

Ate: PlantsBeaked plant-eatersLate Cretaceous

Lophorhothon was a duck-billed dinosaur that lived in what is now Alabama, USA. It had a bumpy crest on its nose and ate plants with its beak.1

Lived

86 to 72 million years ago4

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Alabama, USA, and possibly Georgia and North Carolina1

Food

Plants4

Length

4.5 m1

holotype is a juvenile; adults may have been larger

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

as long as 4 dogs nose to tailas long as 25 bananas end to end

How big was Lophorhothon compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

cool stuff

Fun facts

Lophorhothon was the first dinosaur ever discovered in Alabama.1

Its name means 'crested nose' because of the bump on its snout.1

The first fossil was found in 1946 by a Field Museum expedition.1

Scientists once thought Lophorhothon might be a young Prosaurolophus, but new fossils in 2021 showed it is a real species.1 2

Lophorhothon lived about 80 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous.1

Its fossils were found in marine rocks, meaning the dinosaur was probably washed out to sea after death.1

AI-made picture of Lophorhothon — An AI-made picture of how Lophorhothon 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 Lophorhothon

?How big was Lophorhothon?

The only known skeleton is about 4.5 metres (14 ft 9 in) long, but that was a juvenile. Adults may have grown larger, possibly as big as other duck-billed dinosaurs like Hadrosaurus.1

?What did Lophorhothon eat?

It was an herbivore, meaning it ate only plants. It used its beak to snip off leaves and other vegetation.3

?When did Lophorhothon live?

It lived during the Late Cretaceous period, about 84 to 71 million years ago.3

?Why does Lophorhothon have a crest?

Scientists are not sure exactly, but the bumpy crest on its nose might have been used for display, like to attract mates or recognize other members of its species.1

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Myth buster

Myth: Some people think Lophorhothon is not a real dinosaur but a mix of other dinosaurs.

Truth: New fossils found in 2021 show Lophorhothon is a valid, unique dinosaur species.1 2

For dino experts

Scientific name: Lophorhothon
Named by: Langston 19604
Group: Beaked plant-eaters
Family / clade: Hadrosauromorpha4
Classification: Ornithischia > Ornithopoda > Iguanodontia4
Age of the rocks: 86 to 72 million years (Santonian / Campanian)4
Rock formations: Mooreville Chalk4
Countries: USA4
Fossil records: 2 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: Lophorhothon was named by paleontologist Wann Langston in 1960. The first fossils were dug up in 1946 by a team from the Field Museum in Chicago.1
Still debated: Scientists are still debating exactly how big adult Lophorhothon grew, because the only complete skeleton is from a juvenile.1

Where the facts come from

Lophorhothon (en.wikipedia.org)
A redescription of Lophorhothon atopus (Ornithopoda: Dinosauria) from the Late Cretaceous of Alabama based on new material1 (cdnsciencepub.com)
Lophorhothon | Natural History Museum (nhm.ac.uk)
Lophorhothon 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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