Corythosaurus

Corythosaurus was a helmet-crested duck-billed dinosaur that thrived in the river plains of Alberta, Canada during the Late Cretaceous period. Adults grew to roughly nine metres in length and weighed between three and four tonnes. Its skull was crowned by a tall, semicircular bony crest resembling the helmet of a Corinthian soldier, which enclosed convoluted nasal passages used for vocalisation and visual display. Exceptionally preserved 'dinosaur mummy' specimens have provided remarkable insights into its biology, preserving extensive impressions of pebbled skin as well as plant remains such as twigs, seeds, and pine needles in the belly region. Corythosaurus spent much of its day processing coarse plant matter using hundreds of tightly packed cheek teeth arranged in complex grinding batteries.

Complete mummified specimens preserve polygonal scale impressions and stomach contents including conifer needles and seeds.

Where and when

Corythosaurus lived in the Late Cretaceous, from 77 to 75 million years ago (Campanian age). Its remains come from Canada, in the Dinosaur Park Formation.

The numbers

Length 8.5 m (estimates run from 8 to 9 m). Mass about 3.5 t. Hip height about 2.8 m. That is 5 human-lengths, or 0.76 of a double-decker bus. These are estimates from near-complete skeleton; fields marked estimated by the site are length, mass, hip height.

Compare Corythosaurus with a bus Place on the timeline