Dinosaurs A to Z
Hadrosauridae

Ahshislesaurus wimani

"lizard"

Generic ornithopod body-plan outline
You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Ahshislesaurus 11 m (36 ft) long
as long as 7 people standing fingertip to fingertip
generic ornithopod body plan, scaled to length — not a silhouette of Ahshislesaurus
Length
11 m (36 ft)
Period
Late Cretaceous (75.02 Mya)
Place
United States · Mexico · New Mexico, USA
Food
Herbivore
Clade
Hadrosauridae Dinosauria Ornithischia Cerapoda Ornithopoda Iguanodontia Duck-billed dinosaurs with tooth batteries.
Ahshislesaurus reconstruction by Connor Ashbridge
Reconstruction · Connor Ashbridge (CC-BY)

Ahshislesaurus is an extinct genus of saurolophine hadrosaurid dinosaurs known from the Late Cretaceous of what is now New Mexico, United States. It is known from a partial skull and three neck vertebrae discovered in 1916 and first described in 1935. Prior to its scientific naming, researchers debated whether the specimen belonged to Kritosaurus navajovius, a related species from the same layers of rocks, or a distinct animal. The genus contains a single species, Ahshislesaurus wimani, named in 2025. A partial skeleton and isolated limb and girdle bones found in the same rock layers may also belong to Ahshislesaurus.

As a member of the hadrosaurid tribe Kritosaurini, Ahshislesaurus did not have a decorative tube-like crest as in lambeosaurines like Parasaurolophus. Instead, it had a small bump over its snout.

What we know

  • Named by Dalman et al., 2025.
  • Body length estimated at about 11 m.
  • Fossils found in United States and Mexico.

What we guess

The reconstruction notes for Ahshislesaurus — soft tissue, color, behavior — haven't been written up yet. Only the recorded basics above are filled in so far.