Explore this animal in Size of Extinct Animals ↗
275 / Mesozoic
Saurolophus
Saurolophus osborni
A solid spike-like crest projected behind the skull and probably carried a strong visual signal.
View original image · 1536 × 1024- Time range
- About 70–68 million years ago
- Final stage
- Late Cretaceous
- Geographic range
- River plains · Alberta, Canada
01 / DEFINITION & ECOLOGY
What was Saurolophus?
Saurolophus (Saurolophus osborni) was an extinct organism known from About 70–68 million years ago, with a range in River plains · Alberta, Canada.
Life and ecology
Saurolophus was a large duck-billed dinosaur that ground plants with dental batteries and alternated between two and four legs.
02 / DISAPPEARANCE
Why did Saurolophus disappear?
Its local record ends before the final impact, amid changing rivers and hadrosaur communities; those changes are context, not a demonstrated cause.
03 / EVIDENCE
How do scientists know about Saurolophus?
Skulls, skeletons and skin impressions preserve the solid crest, scales and soft dorsal outline.
04 / SOURCES & FURTHER READING
Check the source record
Use the scientific name to compare taxonomy, occurrence records and the fossil record. Database coverage and classifications may differ.
05 / REVISION HISTORY
How has this record changed?
- Rewrote an extinction cause that presented environmental or faunal turnover as established; it is now given as context the record does not prove.
- Verified authoritative entity sources and added three responsive reconstruction sizes.
- Initial bilingual species record published.
06 / CORRECTIONS & ADDITIONS