page_title: Parasaurolophus
section_title: Paleobiology
hierarchical_section_title: Parasaurolophus / Paleobiology
caption_attribution_description: Parasaurolophus walkeri restoration, • Images of Parasaurolophus skulls were used as reference. • Skin impressions are known in Parasaruolophus. It's known to had 'tubercilated' skin similar to other hadrosaurs. (Parks 1922, Parasaruolophus Walkeri, A new Genus of crested Trachont Dinosaur.) (Farke et al. 2013 Ontogeny in the tube-crested dinosaur Parasaurolophus (Hadrosauridae) and heterochrony in hadrosaurids.) Known Parasaurolophus skin impressions aren't extensive and don't show all the details. Some of the skin details shown here are speculative but based on those described for another hadrosaur fossil that preserves more extensive skin impressions. [1] The frill running down the top of the back is not known in Parasaurolophus. Frills/dermal ridges are known in a few hadrosarus. The one shown here is based loosely on the close relative Corythosaurus (Kennith Karpenter, 1999, Eggs, Nests, and Baby Dinosaurs, A Look at Dinosaur Reproduction.) • The colours and/or patterns, as with most restorations of prehistoric creatures, are speculative. References ↑ Anderson, Brian G.; Barrick, Reese E.; Droser, Mary L.; Stadtman, Kennith L. (1999) "Hadrosaur Skin Impressions from the Upper Cretaceous Nelsen Formation, Book Cliffs, Utah: Morphology and Paleoenvironmental Context" in Vertebrate Paleontology in Utah, New York: Utah Geological Survey, pp.&#160;295–302 ISBN: 1557916349, 9781557916341. NOTE: I often update my images. If you want to have any of my images on a website, please (if possible) don’t host/save it to the website server. I’d prefer it if the image's Wikimedia URL is used. This means that if I update an image, it will be updated on the site as well. Thanks.
context_page_description: Parasaurolophus is a genus of herbivorous ornithopod dinosaur that lived in what is now North America and possibly Asia during the Late Cretaceous Period, about 76.5–73 million years ago. It was an herbivore that walked both as a biped and as a quadruped. Three species are universally recognized: P. walkeri, P. tubicen, and the short-crested P. cyrtocristatus. Additionally, a fourth species, P. jiayensis, has been proposed, although it is more commonly placed in the separate genus Charonosaurus. Remains are known from Alberta, New Mexico and Utah, and possibly Heilongjiang. The genus was first described in 1922 by William Parks from a skull and partial skeleton found in Alberta.
  Parasaurolophus was a hadrosaurid, part of a diverse family of Cretaceous dinosaurs known for their range of bizarre head adornments. This genus is known for its large, elaborate cranial crest, which at its largest forms a long curved tube projecting upwards and back from the skull. Charonosaurus from China, which may have been its closest relative, had a similar skull and potentially a similar crest.
caption: P. walkeri head with scalation detail.
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