Dino card No. 1380 of 2,027

Pararhabdodon

Say it: PAIR-ah-RAB-doh-don

Name means: “near fluted tooth, because it was first thought to be like Rhabdodon”1

Ate: PlantsDuck-billsLate Cretaceous

Pararhabdodon was a big duck-billed dinosaur that lived in Spain near the end of the Age of Dinosaurs. It walked on two legs or all fours and munched on plants with its toothy beak.1

Lived

72 to 66 million years ago2

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Spain, in the Pyrenees near Isona, Lleida, and also in other parts of the Tremp Group1

Food

Plants2 1

Length

6 to 9 m1

the holotype was about 6 m long and not fully grown; adults may have reached about 9 m

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

as long as 2 cars parked in a rowas long as 50 bananas end to end

How big was Pararhabdodon compared to YOU?

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

cool stuff

Fun facts

Pararhabdodon was one of the very last non-bird dinosaurs, living just before the big extinction 66 million years ago.1

It was the first lambeosaurine hadrosaur ever found on the European continent.1

Even though it lived on an island, it did not shrink like some other island dinosaurs; it may have grown as large as its relatives in North America and Asia.1

Scientists think it could walk on two legs or on all fours, depending on what it was doing.1

Some bones from France and other Spanish sites were once thought to belong to Pararhabdodon, but later studies questioned those ideas.1

A bonebed called Basturs Poble has many hadrosaur bones, and some scientists thought they belonged to Pararhabdodon, but that is not certain.1

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

?How big was Pararhabdodon?

The holotype specimen was about 6 metres (20 ft) long, but it was not fully grown. Adults likely reached around 9 metres (30 ft), similar to relatives like Corythosaurus and Tsintaosaurus.1

?What did Pararhabdodon eat?

It was a herbivore, meaning it ate plants. It used its toothy beak to munch on vegetation.1

?Where was Pararhabdodon found?

Its fossils were discovered in the Tremp Group of Spain, near Isona in the Pyrenees. Some bones from France were once thought to belong to it, but that is now questioned.1

?Is Pararhabdodon a dinosaur?

Yes, it is a dinosaur. Specifically, it is a lambeosaurine hadrosaurid, a type of duck-billed dinosaur.1

Ask Rex about Pararhabdodon

Rex only answers questions about this page. 10 questions a month.

Rex is an AI and can make mistakes. He runs on servers in the EU and questions are never saved. Never type your name or other personal things.

Myth buster

Myth: Some people think Pararhabdodon was a small dinosaur because it lived on an island.

Truth: The holotype was not fully grown, and adults likely reached about 9 metres long, similar to other lambeosaurines.1

For dino experts

Scientific name: Pararhabdodon
Named by: Casanovas Cladellas 19922
Group: Duck-bills
Family / clade: Hadrosauridae2
Classification: Ornithischia > Ornithopoda > Iguanodontia > Hadrosauridae2
Age of the rocks: 72 to 66 million years (Maastrichtian)2
Rock formations: Conques, Talarn, La Posa2
Countries: Spain2
Fossil records: 7 in the Paleobiology Database2
Discovery: Fossils were first dug up in 1985 at Sant Romà d'Abella in Spain, and in 1993 scientists named the species Pararhabdodon isonensis.1
Still debated: Scientists still debate whether some other Spanish hadrosaurs, like Blasisaurus and Arenysaurus, were actually the same animal as Pararhabdodon.1

Where the facts come from

Pararhabdodon (en.wikipedia.org)
Pararhabdodon 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.

Rex is hungry! Dino Wiki is a dad's project for his dino-loving son, free with no ads. Grown-ups can feed Rex a snack to help keep it online.Feed Rex