Hadrosaurus hadruh-SƆːRUHS
"bulky lizard"
- Length
- 8 m (26.2 ft)
- Period
- Late Cretaceous (83.6–77.9 Mya)
- Place
- North America
- Food
- Herbivore
- Clade
- Hadrosauridae Dinosauria Ornithischia Cerapoda Ornithopoda Iguanodontia Duck-billed dinosaurs with tooth batteries.
Hadrosaurus (; “bulky lizard”) is a genus of hadrosaurid ornithopod dinosaurs that lived in North America during the Late Cretaceous Period in what is now the Woodbury Formation in New Jersey about 83.6 to 77.9 million years ago. The holotype specimen was found in fluvial marine sedimentation, meaning that the corpse of the animal was transported by a river and washed out to sea. Some fossils are found in the Tar Heel/Coachman Formation.
They were large animals ranging from 7 – 8 m in length and 2 – 4 t in weight. Most of the preserved elements are very robust, unusual traits in hadrosaurs. Hadrosaurus were ponderously built animals equipped with keratinous beaks for cropping foliage and a specialized and complex dentition for food processing. Hadrosaurus foulkii, the only species in this genus, is known from a single specimen consisting of much of the skeleton and parts of the skull.
What we know
- Named by Leidy, 1858.
- Body length estimated at about 8 m.
- Fossils found in North America.
What we guess
The reconstruction notes for Hadrosaurus — soft tissue, color, behavior — haven't been written up yet. Only the recorded basics above are filled in so far.