Parasaurolophus facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Parasaurolophus
Temporal range: Upper Cretaceous
Parasaurolophus walkeri
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Class: Sauropsida
Superorder: Dinosauria
Order: Ornithischia
Suborder: Cerapoda
Infraorder: Ornithopoda
Family: Hadrosauridae
Genus: Parasaurolophus
Parks, 1922

Parasaurolophus is a genus of ornithopod dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of what is now North America, about 76.5–73 million years ago. It was a herbivore that walked both as biped and a quadruped. It probably lived in herds.

Parasaurolophus was a hadrosaur. They had a large head crest, which was a long curved tube. It went upwards and back from the skull. The crest has been much discussed by scientists. They think its main functions were visual recognition of species and sex, acoustic resonance (making a loud sound), and thermoregulation. Parasaurolophus is one of the rarer hadrosaurs: there are only a few good specimens.

Images for kids

  • Parasaurolophuspic steveoc

    P. walkeri with scalation detail.

  • Parasaurolophus walkeri

    Restoration of P. walkeri

  • Parasaurolophus walkeri

    Holotype specimen of P. walkeri, showing the pathologic v-shaped notch

  • Parasaurolophus skulls

    Comparison drawing between the crests of P. cyrtocristatus (above) and P. walkeri (below)

  • Hadrosauridae fossils at the CMNH

    P. tubicen crest and other hadrosaur material, Carnegie Museum of Natural History

  • Parasaurolophus juvenile skeleton

    Juvenile skeleton RAM 14000

  • Juvenile skeleton

    Reconstruction of a juvenile skeleton, based on RAM 14000

  • Head of Parasaurolophus

    P. walkeri skull cast

  • Parasaurolophus with frill

    Restoration of P. walkeri with hypothetical skin frill


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