Corythosaurus
cor-ITH-oh-SAWR-us
Named after the distinctive crest on the top of its head – Corythosaurus translates to ‘helmet lizard’ – this herbivorous Hadrosaurid lived around 75m years ago during the Late Cretaceous period. Corythosaurus weighed around four tonnes and grew up to 9m in length, making it one of the largest Hadrosaurids, with a bill-shaped snout and thousands of small teeth for chewing through tough vegetation.
Discovery
Corythosaurus was discovered in 1911 by renowned American palaeontologist Barnum Brown, who unearthed a near-complete skeleton in Red Deer River, a city in Alberta, Canada. Brown – known as ‘Mr. Bones’ thanks to his stellar reputation in his field – also excavated a significant amount of skin, allowing him to understand more about the genus.
Palaeoecology
Corythosaurus lived in the forests of North America, co-existing with other large herbivores including Parasaurolophus and Centrosaurus. Studies have shown that these dinosaurs all had different jaw structures, suggesting that they had separate diets that allowed them to live alongside one another without competing for food.
Information
- Era
- Late Cretaceous
- Family
- Hadrosauridae
- Genus
- Corythosaurus
- Height
- 3.1M
- Length
- 9M
- Weight
- 4T
- Diet
- Ground Palaeobotany
- Egg batch size
- 2 - 4
