Olorotitan

Olorotitan was a large hollow-crested duck-billed dinosaur from the latest Cretaceous period, living roughly 70 to 66 million years ago in the Amur region of eastern Russia. Reaching lengths of around eight metres, it was comparable in size to a modern large bus. It is notable for its remarkably complete fossil skeleton, which revealed an unusual combination of anatomical traits. Its neck contained eighteen vertebrae, far more than any other known hadrosaur, which inspired its name meaning gigantic swan. It also bore a striking hollow cranial crest that swept backwards before expanding into an axehead-like shape, which likely served visual display and acoustic communication. Walking on all fours but able to rear onto two legs, Olorotitan fed on conifer needles, twigs, and flowering plants.

It possessed eighteen cervical vertebrae, giving it an exceptionally long neck among hadrosaurs.

Where and when

Olorotitan lived in the Late Cretaceous, from 70 to 66 million years ago (Maastrichtian age). Its remains come from Russia, in the Udurchukan Formation.

The numbers

Length 8.3 m (estimates run from 8 to 8.5 m). Mass about 3.5 t. Hip height about 2.8 m. That is 4.9 human-lengths, or 0.74 of a double-decker bus. These are estimates from near-complete skeleton; fields marked estimated by the site are length, mass, hip height.

Compare Olorotitan with a bus Place on the timeline