Dino card No. 0562 of 2,015

Edmontosaurus

Say it: ed-MON-tuh-SORE-us

Name means: “Edmonton lizard, named after the Edmonton Formation in Alberta, Canada”1

Ate: PlantsDuck-billsLate Cretaceous

Edmontosaurus was a huge, plant-eating dinosaur with a duck-like beak. It lived in herds and was one of the biggest herbivores in North America, even bigger than T. rex!1

Lived

90 to 66 million years ago2

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Alberta and Saskatchewan in Canada, and Alaska, Colorado, Montana, New Jersey, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming in the United States2 1

Food

Plants1

Length

13 m1

Weight

7.5 tonnes1

Artist's life restoration of Edmontosaurus — How Edmontosaurus may have looked, by Paleoart by Natee Puttapipat. Published by Stephanie K. Drumheller, Clint A. Boyd, Becky M. S. Barnes, and Mindy L. Hous. CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Scientists still argue about colours and details.

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

Edmontosaurus had a fleshy 'mitten' on its hands, formed by two long fingers wrapped together, which helped support its weight when walking on all fours.1

It could rear up on its hind legs to reach high branches, thanks to powerful hindlimbs and a long tail for balance.1

Edmontosaurus lived in huge herds of tens to hundreds of individuals, and many bonebeds with thousands of bones have been found.1

The first Edmontosaurus skeleton was put on display in Canada in 1913, making it the first mounted dinosaur skeleton in the country.1

Two species are known: E. regalis lived about 73 to 70 million years ago, and E. annectens lived about 68 to 66 million years ago.1

Edmontosaurus had a duck-like beak and hundreds of teeth that formed a grinding 'pavement' to chew tough plants.1

Myth buster

Myth: Some people think Edmontosaurus had a hollow crest on its head like some other duck-billed dinosaurs.

Truth: Edmontosaurus was a 'crestless' hadrosaur, meaning it did not have a large hollow crest. Its head was flat on top.1

For dino experts

Scientific name: Edmontosaurus
Named by: Lambe 19172
Group: Duck-bills
Family / clade: Hadrosauridae2
Classification: Ornithischia > Ornithopoda > Iguanodontia > Hadrosauridae2
Age of the rocks: 90 to 66 million years (Coniacian to Maastrichtian)2
Rock formations: Hell Creek, Lance, Horseshoe Canyon2
Countries: USA, Canada2
Fossil records: 85 in the Paleobiology Database2
Also known as: Anatosaurus, Anatotitan (older names now counted as the same animal)2
Discovery: The first Edmontosaurus fossil was found in 1912 near Drumheller, Alberta, Canada. It was named Edmontosaurus regalis in 1917 by Lawrence Lambe, after the Edmonton Formation where it was found.1
Still debated: Scientists are still debating whether some hadrosaur fossils from Alberta belong to E. annectens or are too incomplete to be sure.1

Where the facts come from

Edmontosaurus | The Canadian Encyclopedia (thecanadianencyclopedia.ca)
Edmontosaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@dinowiki.app and we will fix it.