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Prosaurolophus

Say it: proh-sore-OH-lof-us
Name means: “before Saurolophus, because it lived earlier than a similar dinosaur with a bigger crest”1
Ate: PlantsDuck-billsLate Cretaceous

Prosaurolophus was a duck-billed dinosaur that lived in North America about 75 million years ago. It had a small, solid bump on its nose that looked like a little hat. This gentle giant munched on plants and could walk on two legs or all fours.1

Lived
84 to 66 million years ago4
Late Cretaceous
Fossils found in
Alberta, Canada and Montana, USA41
Length
7.6 to 8.5 m (25 to 28 ft)21
Weight
3 tonnes (6,600 lb)1
Height
3 m (9.8 ft)
estimate
Top speed
about 24 km/h (15 mph)
Running, estimate
What did Prosaurolophus eat?
It was a herbivore that ate plants like conifer trees and tree bark, using its broad beak to crop food and hundreds of teeth to grind it.

When did it live?

Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

Prosaurolophus about 8.5 m long (28 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)Prosaurolophusabout 3 m tall (9.8 ft)An elephantabout 3.2 m (10 ft)

estimate

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 2 cars
as long as 8 dogs nose to tailas long as 47 bananas end to endas heavy as 150 dogsas heavy as 600 watermelonsas heavy as 4 whole school classes of kidsas heavy as 7 polar bearscould run 100 metres in 15 seconds (the fastest human needs 9.6)

How big was Prosaurolophus compared to YOU?

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How fast was it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Prosaurolophus had a small, triangular crest on its head made of bone, but scientists think it might have had inflatable nose sacs for display.1

2

Fossils of at least 25 individuals have been found, including some in a bonebed that suggests they lived together in groups near water.1

3

Its teeth were packed into dental batteries with hundreds of teeth, and they were replaced throughout its life.1

4

Prosaurolophus could probably walk on two legs or all fours, and it could reach plants up to 4 metres (13 feet) high.1

5

It lived in a warm, swampy environment with rivers and floodplains, alongside horned dinosaurs like Centrosaurus and the tyrannosaur Gorgosaurus.1

AI-madeAI-made picture of Prosaurolophus
An AI-made picture of how Prosaurolophus 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 Prosaurolophus

?How big was Prosaurolophus?

About 8.5 metres (28 feet) long and weighed around 3 tonnes (3.3 tons). Its skull was about 0.9 metres (3 feet) long.1

?What did Prosaurolophus eat?

It was a herbivore that ate plants like conifer trees and tree bark, using its broad beak to crop food and hundreds of teeth to grind it.1

?Did Prosaurolophus have a crest?

Yes, it had a small, triangular crest on its forehead made of bone. Scientists think it might also have had inflatable nose sacs for display.13

?When did Prosaurolophus live?

It lived during the Late Cretaceous period, about 75.7 to 74.1 million years ago.1

?Where was Prosaurolophus found?

Fossils have been found in Alberta, Canada, and Montana, USA, in the Dinosaur Park Formation and Two Medicine Formation.12

?Did Prosaurolophus live in groups?

Yes, a bonebed of several individuals suggests they lived together in groups, possibly gathering near water during droughts.1

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Scientific name
Prosaurolophus
Named by
Brown 19164
Group
Duck-bills
Family / clade
Hadrosauridae4
Classification
Ornithischia > Ornithopoda > Iguanodontia > Hadrosauridae4
Age of the rocks
84 to 66 million years (Campanian / Maastrichtian)4
Rock formations
Dinosaur Park, Two Medicine, Bearpaw Shale4
Countries
Canada, USA4
Fossil records
15 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery
American paleontologist Barnum Brown found a skull in Alberta, Canada in 1915 and named Prosaurolophus maximus in 1916.1
Still debated
Scientists are not sure if the small crest was used for display or if it supported soft tissue like inflatable nose sacs.1

Where the facts come from

  1. Prosaurolophus (en.wikipedia.org)
  2. Prosaurolophus | Natural History Museum (nhm.ac.uk)
  3. Local juvenile duck-billed dinosaur fossil discovery reveals new details about its appearance | News | University of Calgary (news.ucalgary.ca)
  4. Prosaurolophus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

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More from the same group: Duck-bills

ParasaurolophusDuck-billsEdmontosaurusDuck-billsSaurolophusDuck-billsHypacrosaurusDuck-billsCorythosaurusDuck-billsKritosaurusDuck-bills

Also from the same time: Late Cretaceous

TyrannosaurusTyrannosaursTriceratopsHorned dinosVelociraptorRaptorsSpinosaurusSpinosaursAnkylosaurusArmoured dinosPteranodonFlying reptiles
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