Tlatolophus
Tlatolophus was a big, plant-eating duck-billed dinosaur with a fancy crest on its head that looked like a comma or a word symbol. It lived in what is now Mexico during the Late Cretaceous, about 73 to 72.5 million years ago. This dinosaur is special because it's one of the most complete duck-billed dinosaurs ever found in Mexico!12
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Fun facts
Tlatolophus's crest was hollow and shaped like an upside-down comma, which may have been used for making sounds or showing off.1
The name Tlatolophus comes from the Nahuatl word 'tlatolli' meaning 'word', because its crest looks like the Aztec symbol for 'word'.1
The first fossil was a tail found in 2005, but it took until 2013 for scientists to dig out the whole skeleton, including the skull.1
Tlatolophus is the most complete lambeosaurine (crested duck-billed dinosaur) ever found in Mexico.2
Its skull was tall, and the crest was made of bones from the nose and upper jaw, not just a separate bone.1
Scientists think Tlatolophus was about 8 meters long and weighed nearly 3 metric tons, as heavy as a small elephant.1
Most asked questions about Tlatolophus
?What did Tlatolophus eat?
It was a plant-eater, like all duck-billed dinosaurs. It likely ate leaves, ferns, and other plants with its wide beak.1
?How big was Tlatolophus?
About 8 metres long and weighed nearly 3 metric tons, as heavy as a small elephant.1
?Did Tlatolophus have feathers?
No, duck-billed dinosaurs like Tlatolophus did not have feathers. They were covered in scaly skin.1
?When did Tlatolophus live?
It lived during the Late Cretaceous period, about 73 to 72.5 million years ago.1
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Myth buster
Myth: Some people think Tlatolophus could swim in the ocean.
Truth: No, Tlatolophus was a land dinosaur that walked on four legs or two, and it ate plants on land.3
For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Tlatolophus
- Named by
- Ramírez-Velasco et al. 20213
- Group
- Duck-bills
- Family / clade
- Hadrosauridae3
- Classification
- Ornithischia > Ornithopoda > Iguanodontia > Hadrosauridae3
- Age of the rocks
- 84 to 72 million years (Campanian)3
- Rock formations
- Cerro del Pueblo3
- Countries
- Mexico3
- Fossil records
- 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
- Discovery
- The first Tlatolophus fossil was found in 2005 in Mexico, but it wasn't until 2013 that a team from INAH and UNAM started digging it out. They named it Tlatolophus galorum in 2021.12
- Still debated
- Scientists still debate what the crest was used for, whether for making sounds, attracting mates, or something else.1
Where the facts come from
- Tlatolophus (en.wikipedia.org)
- Tlatolophus galorum, gen. et sp. nov., a parasaurolophini dinosaur from the upper Campanian of the Cerro del Pueblo Formation, Coahuila, northern Mexico (sciencedirect.com)
- Tlatolophus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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