Parasaurolophus
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The most striking feature of Parasaurolophus is the large crest on its head. The crest is hollow, and the nasal passages loop through the abck of the crest. The function of this crest has long been debated, with proposed hypotheses ranging from thermoregulation to display to holding air when underwater to breathing fire. It's most likely the crest was used for visual nad auditory display. The crest is a clear visual identifier ("this is a Parasaurolophus), and its also quite musical. The hollow passages in this crest act as a resonator, helping it make loud bugling noises (that were actually recreated pre-deextinction!) And fittingly, Parasaurolophus and other hadrosaurs have a good sense of hearing. Juveniles lack a fully-developed crest - the youngest specimen known, a baby about a meter long, has a low circular crest like other lambeosaurines such as Hypacrosaurus. Other than that, Parasaurolophus is a pretty standard hadrosaur. It's a large beaked herbivorous dinosaur. The backs of its jaws have "batteries" formed out of hundreds of tiny teeth. Its tail is relatively deep for a hadrosaur. A herd of Parasaurolophus lives in the Campanian Plains. They are a very noisy group. |
Scientific name Location Time Length Diet |