5.4" Edmontosaurus Fossil Leg Bone Lance Creek Cretaceous Dinosaur WY COA
Location: Lance Creek Formation, Wyoming (Private Land Origin)
Weight: 1 Pound 5.6 Ounces
Dimensions: 5.4 Inches Long, 3.1 Inches Wide, 2.8 Inches Thick
Comes with a Certificate of Authenticity.
The item pictured is the one you will receive.
This is a genuine fossil bone, not a replica
Edmontosaurus, whose name translates to "lizard from Edmonton," is a species within the hadrosaurid family that existed during the Maastrichtian stage, the terminal segment of the Cretaceous period, approximately 71 to 65 million years ago. Mature specimens typically measured up to nine meters in length, with some larger variants extending to thirteen meters. Weighing around 3.5 tonnes, Edmontosaurus ranks among the most sizeable hadrosaurids known from the fossil record.
Edmontosaurus could pass the toughest foodstuffs back and forth across the teeth with its muscular, daring pouches.
To fit so many teeth into its mouth, they were packed into tight "banks" of up to sixty rows, and new teeth continually grew to replace lost teeth — analogous to a new shark. The bones of the higher jaw would flex outwards as the lower jaw came up, so the mandible could grind against it. Typical food would have built-in conifer needles, seeds, and twigs, and these have been established in the body cavities of fossilized Edmontosaurus. It was evidently a tree-browser.
The 1908 discovery in Wyoming was particularly remarkable in that paleontologists actually recovered fossilized imprints of Edmontosaurus' skin. The skin drying very quickly and fixing its shape into the mud must have left an impression. It is from these limitations that we know the skin was scaly and leathery, and the thigh muscle was under the skin of the body. This would have given the feeling that the leg left its body at the knee, and the whole thigh was under the skin. This only contributes to its resemblance to a duck. It also had several tubercles (bumps) on its neck and down its back and tail.
Edmontosaurus primarily moved on two legs but could also walk on all fours when needed. Its forelimbs were shorter than its hindlimbs, yet still strong enough to support four-legged motion. The front feet featured hooves on two fingers and had weight-bearing pads similar to those of Camarasaurus, while the rear feet had two hooked toes. The bone structure indicates powerful muscles in both the legs and feet. Its spine curved downward at the shoulders, giving Edmontosaurus a low stance ideal for feeding close to the ground. While its limbs were strong, it was likely slow and had few defenses, relying on sharp eyesight, hearing, and smell to stay alert and avoid predators.
