Parasaurolophus

* P. walkeri
* P. cyrtocristatus
* C. jiayinensis

## *Parasaurolophus walkeri*

★★★★★

Dusky

## Diet

 Plants Fruits

> *"Meet Parasaurolophus! Beautiful and elegant, this graceful hadrosaur is characterised by its resonant hollow crest."*
>
>

Parasaurolophus is a large herbivorous Hadrosaur that lived in the general regions of North America and Asia during the Cretaceous. Parasaurolophus is represented in Prehistoric Kingdom by the species, *P. walkeri*, *P. cyrtocristatus*, and *P.* *jiayinensis* (also known as *Charonosaurus jiayinensis*).

## *Parasaurolophus cyrtocristatus*

★★★★★

Floral

## Creation

### Breeding Cost

$165,000

> *"Meet Parasaurolophus! Beautiful and elegant, this graceful hadrosaur is characterised by its resonant hollow crest."*
>
>

Parasaurolophus is a large herbivorous Hadrosaur that lived in the general regions of North America and Asia during the Cretaceous. Parasaurolophus is represented in Prehistoric Kingdom by the species, *P. walkeri*, *P. cyrtocristatus*, and *P.* *jiayinensis* (also known as *Charonosaurus jiayinensis*).

## *Charonosaurus jiayinensis*

★★★★★

Royal

## Creation

### Breeding Cost

$165,000

> *"Meet Parasaurolophus! Beautiful and elegant, this graceful hadrosaur is characterised by its resonant hollow crest."*
>
>

Parasaurolophus is a large herbivorous Hadrosaur that lived in the general regions of North America and Asia during the Cretaceous. Parasaurolophus is represented in Prehistoric Kingdom by the species, *P. walkeri*, *P. cyrtocristatus*, and *P.* *jiayinensis* (also known as *Charonosaurus jiayinensis*).

## In Game

### Description

An iconic dinosaur, Parasaurolophus is easily recognised by the long tube-shaped crest on its head. They primarily move on all four legs but can rise on their back legs to reach food or run. There are three species in Prehistoric Kingdom, each one is presented as an alternative skin:

* Dusky represents the type species *P. walkeri*, which possesses a long curved crest.
* Floral represents the short crested *P. cyrtocristatus.*
* Royal represents the large Asian species *C. jiayinesis.*

### In-Game Trivia

"*Now that, my friend, is a beautiful dinosaur. Almost like a musical instrument, Parasaurolophus used their crest for long distance communication.*"

"*They didn't use their tube-shaped crest as a snorkel, contrary to previous hypotheses. Nevertheless, I quite like the mental image of a Parasaurolophus going snorkeling.*"

"*The crests are made out of bone riddled with hollow tubes, which help amplify that beautiful singing voice of theirs. You're listening to the first orchestra on Earth.*"

"*There's been simulations in the past that tried to reconstruct how they could have sounded, but nothing quite compares to the real thing.*"

## Paleontology

Arguably the most famous and recognisable hadrosaur, Parasaurolophus is also one of the rarer genera, with only a few good specimens found. The iconic crest of the Parasaurolophus has been much debated over the decades since its discovery. Initially it was believed to have been used as a snorkel, when hadrosaurs were assumed to be mainly aquatic animals that fed near and in rivers. Other theories include a defensive weapon, a support structure, a temperature regulator or as a means to push dense branches out of the way. The crest is now known to have been used as a display structure and a means of amplifying calls and sounds the dinosaur made to communicate with the rest of the herd. The hollow crest had a complex structure of tubes which would have allowed the dinosaur to change its calls. For many years, it was also believed that the crest supported a soft tissue frill attached to the neck, however due to lack of any evidence this has fallen out of favour. Parasaurolophus is a member of the lambeosaurinae subfamily of hadrosaurs, which were identifided by their elaborate hollow crests made of bone. Like all hadrosaurs, Parasaurolophus had a toothless beak and batteries of grinding teeth at the back of its jaws.

There are so far three species of Parasaurolophus known.

* The type species, *P.walkeri* is also the most iconic. Found in Alberta's Dinosaur Park Formation, it had a long curved crest and is known from a very well preserved skeleton, which is only missing parts of its tail and its lower legs.
* *P.tubicen* is found in New Mexico. It had a long straight crest with a more complex interior structure than other species.
* *P.cyrtocristatus* is found in the Fruitland and Kaiparowits formations in Utah and New Mexico. It had the shortest and most curved crest of any species. This led to many paleontologists believing that it represented female or juvenile specimens of *P.tubicen*. However it has been proven to be its own species.

A fourth species could also exist in Asia. A massive hadrosaur called Charonosaurus was found in the Yuliangze Formation in north eastern China. It lived at the very end of the Cretaceous, when many species of lambeosaurine dinosaurs had become extinct. It was very similar to Parasaurolophus and a few paleontologists consider it a species of Parasaurolophus rather than its own genus.

Parasaurolophus was named in 1922 by paleontologist William Parks, its name means "near crested lizard", in reference to Park's belief it was related to Saurolophus. Charonosaurus was named in 2000 and Its name means "Charon's lizard" in reference to Charon, the boatman who transported the souls of the dead in the Ancient Greek underworld.

## Gallery

* Photos
* Renders
* Concept Art

*P. walkeri**P. cyrtocristatus* in a forest. A *Brachiosaurus* is visible in the distance.

Website render.Parasaurolophus skins.Render comparing old Parasaurolophus model to current.Parasaurolophus Species Profile.

2014 concept art.