Prosaurolophus

Prosaurolophus
Temporal range:
Late Cretaceous, 75.7–74.1 Ma
↓
P. maximus specimen collected 1921, Royal Ontario Museum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: †Ornithischia
Clade: †Neornithischia
Clade: †Ornithopoda
Family: †Hadrosauridae
Subfamily: †Saurolophinae
Genus: †Prosaurolophus
Brown, 1916
Species:
†P. maximus
Binomial name
†Prosaurolophus maximus
Brown, 1916
Synonyms[1][2][3]

Prosaurolophus (/ˌproʊsɔːˈrɒləfəs/; meaning "before Saurolophus", in comparison to the later dinosaur with a similar head crest) is a genus of hadrosaurid (or duck-billed) dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of North America. It is known from the remains of at least 25 individuals belonging to two species, including skulls and skeletons, but it remains obscure. Its fossils have been found in the late Campanian-age Upper Cretaceous Dinosaur Park Formation in Alberta, and the roughly contemporaneous Two Medicine Formation in Montana, dating to around 75.5-74.0 million years ago. Its most recognizable feature is a small solid crest formed by the nasal bones, sticking up in front of the eyes.

The type species is P. maximus, described by American paleontologist Barnum Brown of the American Museum of Natural History in 1916. A second species, P. blackfeetensis, was described by Jack Horner of the Museum of the Rockies in 1992. The two species were differentiated mainly by crest size and skull proportions.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference MCGetal2013 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference gatesetal2012 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference PM2008 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).