Parasaurolophus Fossil range: Late Cretaceous
Parasaurolophus walkeri
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Sauropsida Superorder: Dinosauria Order: Ornithischia Family: Hadrosauridae Subfamily: Lambeosaurinae Tribe: Parasaurolophini Genus: Parasaurolophus Parks, 1922
Species
P. walkeri (type) P. tubicen Wiman, 1931 P. cyrtocristatus Ostrom, 1961

Parasaurolophus was a genus of hadrosaurid (duck-billed) dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous Period (about 76-65 million years ago) of what is now North America. Its name means 'near crested lizard', which refers to another hadrosaurid, Saurolophus, discovered before Parasaurolophus. Three species are currently recognised. Geography of the US in the late Cretaceous Late Cretaceous (also called the Upper Cretaceous) refers to the second half of the Cretaceous period, named after the famous white chalk cliffs of southern England, which date from this time. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1000x550, 94 KB) Summary Sketch of the hadrosaurid Parasaurolophus in tetrapod or quadrupedal pose, anatomically correct. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. ... Animalia redirects here. ... Typical Classes See below Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates. ... Clades Subclass Anapsida Subclass Diapsida Infraclass Lepidosauromorpha Infraclass Archosauromorpha Sauropsids are a diverse group of mostly egg-laying vertebrate animals. ... Orders & Suborders Saurischia Sauropodomorpha Theropoda Ornithischia Thyreophora Ornithopoda Marginocephalia Dinosaurs were vertebrate animals that dominated the terrestrial ecosystem for over 160 million years, first appearing approximately 230 million years ago. ... Suborders Thyreophora Cerapoda    Ornithopoda    Marginocephalia Ornithischia is an order of beaked, herbivorous dinosaurs. ... Genera Lambeosaurinae     Corythosaurus    Lambeosaurus    Parasaurolophus Hadrosaurinae    Anasazisaurus     Anatotitan     Edmontosaurus     Hadrosaurus    Maiasaura    Prosaurolophus    Saurolophus    Shantungosaurus Hadrosaurids or duck-billed dinosaurs are members of the family Hadrosauridae, and include ornithopods such as Edmontosaurus and Parasaurolophus. ... Genera Lambeosaurinae     Corythosaurus    Lambeosaurus    Parasaurolophus Hadrosaurinae    Anasazisaurus     Anatotitan     Edmontosaurus     Hadrosaurus    Maiasaura    Prosaurolophus    Saurolophus    Shantungosaurus Hadrosaurids or duck-billed dinosaurs are members of the family Hadrosauridae, and include ornithopods such as Edmontosaurus and Parasaurolophus. ... Genera Lambeosaurinae     Corythosaurus    Lambeosaurus    Parasaurolophus Hadrosaurinae    Anasazisaurus     Anatotitan     Edmontosaurus     Hadrosaurus    Maiasaura    Prosaurolophus    Saurolophus    Shantungosaurus Hadrosaurids or duck-billed dinosaurs are members of the family Hadrosauridae, and include ornithopods such as Edmontosaurus and Parasaurolophus. ... In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biodiversity. ... In zoological nomenclature, a type is a specimen or a taxon. ... Genera Lambeosaurinae    Corythosaurus    Hypacrosaurus    Lambeosaurus    Parasaurolophus Hadrosaurinae    Anasazisaurus    Anatotitan    Edmontosaurus    Hadrosaurus    Maiasaura    Prosaurolophus    Saurolophus    Shantungosaurus Hadrosaurids or duck-billed dinosaurs are members of the family Hadrosauridae, and include ornithopods such as Edmontosaurus and Parasaurolophus. ... Orders & Suborders Saurischia Sauropodomorpha Theropoda Ornithischia Thyreophora Ornithopoda Marginocephalia Dinosaurs were vertebrate animals that dominated the terrestrial ecosystem for over 160 million years, first appearing approximately 230 million years ago. ... The Cretaceous Period is one of the major divisions of the geologic timescale, reaching from the end of the Jurassic Period (i. ... A geologic period is a subdivision of geologic time that divides an era into smaller timeframes. ... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ... Binomial name Saurolophus osborni Brown, 1912 Species S osborni S. angustirostris Rozhdestvensky, 1952 Saurolophus is a large hadrosaurid. ...

Description

Parasaurolophus were about 10 m (33 ft) long, 5 m (16 ft) high and weighed around 3500 kg (7,700 lb). Like other hadrosaurs, they were facultatively bipedal, i.e. they could alternate between two legs and four, probably preferring a quadrupedal gait while they foraged for food and assuming a bipedal mode for faster running. A biped is an animal that travels across surfaces supported by two legs. ... A quadruped is an animal having exactly four walking legs. ...

Parasaurolophus walkeri skull - Natural History Museum, London.

Their most noticeable feature would have been the six-foot long curved crest, protruding from the rear of the head, often longer in males than in females. This hollow crest was probably used for intraspecific communication by both males and females and for display by the males. In the vertebrae there was a cut where the horn would hit the back, this prevented the horn from hitting the back. Many scientists also think the crest gave Parasaurolophus an excellent sense of smell. Other notable speculation is that the crest may be a defense mechanism of some sort, such as the modern day Bombardier Beatle's ability to throw a jet of chemical "fire" at their enemies.^{[verification needed]} Parasaurolophus is often depicted with a flap of skin running from the bottom of the crest to the base of the neck, though there is no evidence of this. There were about three species but two of them are known only by incomplete remains. The best known species is Parasaurolophus walkeri. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (2062x1283, 1468 KB) Photographer: User:Ballista I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (2062x1283, 1468 KB) Photographer: User:Ballista I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... For other similarly-named museums see Museum of Natural History. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...

Discovery and species

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Fossils of Parasaurolophus have been found across North America, including much of a skeleton in Alberta, Canada, and partial skulls in New Mexico, USA. Image File history File links Wiki_letter_w. ... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ... Motto: Fortis et liber(Latin) Strong and free Capital Edmonton Largest city Calgary Official languages English (see below) Government - Lieutenant-Governor Norman Kwong - Premier Ed Stelmach (PC) Federal representation in Canadian Parliament - House seats 28 - Senate seats 6 Confederation September 1, 1905 (split from Northwest Territories) (8th [province]) Area Ranked... Capital Santa Fe Largest city Albuquerque Area  Ranked 5th  - Total 121,665 sq mi (315,194 km²)  - Width 342 miles (550 km)  - Length 370 miles (595 km)  - % water 0. ...

Paleobiology

Parasaurolophus probably lived in large herds and inhabited flood plains. They were herbivores but they were not, as was once thought, aquatic. They were fully terrestrial animals, as evidenced by footprints. They could possibly swim but they lived their entire lives on land. Parasaurolophus may have been prey for large carnivorous theropods, such as Daspletosaurus. In zoology, an herbivore is an animal that is adapted to eat primarily plants (rather than meat). ... This article deals with meat-eating animals. ... Families See text Theropods (beast foot) are a group of bipedal, primarily carnivorous dinosaurs, belonging to the saurischian (lizard-hip) family. ... Image comparing the size of Daspletosaurus and a human. ...

In popular culture

Parasaurolophus cyrtocristatus.

• The character "Ducky" from The Land Before Time is identified as a Parasaurolophus, though she more closely resembles its relative Saurolophus.
• Parasaurolophus appeared in all three Jurassic Park films. During the Brachiosaurus scene in the first film, when the camera trails to a full view of the park, a herd is seen near the lake. Parasaurolophus appeared again in The Lost World: Jurassic Park when InGen tries to capture dinosaurs for the San Diego Jurassic Park. This dinosaur appears again in Jurassic Park III. The people on the island run into a herd of Parasaurolophus and Corythosaurus to escape Velociraptor. Parasaurolophus was also featured in the Vivendi Universal game Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis.
• Parasaurolophus was featured in various moments of Disney's Dinosaur and in the much older Rite of Spring sequence of Fantasia. featured Parasaurolophus, with a flap of skin under the crest.
• Parasaurolophus also appeared in Episode 6 of ITV's documentary series Prehistoric Park.
• Parasaurolophus appeared as a dinozord (Parazord) in Power Rangers: Dino Thunder and in the Japanese Super Sentai program Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger which Power Rangers Dino Thunder was based on.
• Star Trek: Voyager featured a race called the Voth, who evolved from Parasaurolophus and left Earth when they developed space technology (see "Distant Origin").
• Likewise, the Star Wars universe depicts a parasaurolophus-like species called the Vurk, the species to which Jedi Master Coleman Trebor belongs to.

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