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beaked plant-eater
Prosaurolophus
Say it like this: “PROH-saw-ROL-o-fus”
Prosaurolophus maximus
Prosaurolophus ate plants and walked on two or four legs. It lived in the Late Cretaceous. Bones have been found in Canada.
- When
- Late Cretaceous (Campanian) · roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago
- Named in
- 1916 · Brown, B.
- Hip height
- Not established
- Length
- 8.5 m · 28 ft
- Weight
- 3 tonnes
- Found in
- Canada · Dinosaur Park
- Food and walking
- Herbivore · Two or four legs
- Kind
- beaked plant-eater · Ornithopod
- Family branch
- Saurolophinae
The story in short
Prosaurolophus was formally named in 1916 by B. Brown. The name means “before Saurolophus.”
Fossils referred to Prosaurolophus date to the Late Cretaceous (Campanian), roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago. Finds come from Canada, including the Dinosaur Park Formation. It was a herbivore and could move on two or four legs.
Published estimates put Prosaurolophus at a length near 8.5 m and a body mass around 3 tonnes.
On the family tree it sits in Saurolophinae, among the ornithopod dinosaurs.
Close relatives
Acristavus
Acristavus gagslarsoni
Late Cretaceous (Campanian) · roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago
Ahshislesaurus
Ahshislesaurus wimani
Late Cretaceous (Campanian) · roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago
Anasazisaurus
Anasazisaurus horneri
Late Cretaceous (Campanian) · roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago