3" Hypacrosaurus Dinosaur Fossil Vertebrae Bone Two Medicine FM Montana COA
Location: Two Medicine Formation, Montana (Private Land Origin)
Weight: 7.8 Ounces
Dimensions: 3 Inches Long, 2.8 Inches Wide, 1.5 Inches Thick
Comes with a Certificate of Authenticity.
The item pictured is the one you will receive.
Hypacrosaurus Dinosaur
Hypacrosaurus means ‘near the highest lizard,’ and in this context, the ‘lizard’ was actually the dinosaur Tyrannosaurus, one of the largest dinosaurs in the ecosystems of late Cretaceous North America, but only about a third larger than Hypacrosaurus in the largest individuals (twelve meters for large individual Tyrannosaurus compared to nine meters for Hypacrosaurus). Interestingly, Hypacrosaurus and other dinosaurs like it may have actually been prey to Tyrannosaurus and related genera such as Albertosaurus. Evidence for this comes from a huge bite wound inflicted on the back of an Edmontosaurus that closely matches the shape of a Tyrannosaurus mouth. Because the bones in the wound actually healed afterward, this proves that the Edmontosaurus was alive when it happened, not just a carcass scavenged by a tyrannosaur.
When you compare this to the twenty or so eggs in each Hypacrosaurus nest, you get the conclusion that Hypacrosaurus was breeding at a rate to compensate for high mortality levels. Assuming that environmental conditions were not a major factor, this could mean Hypacrosaurus was a common and viable prey species of the time. Besides Tyrannosaurus, other predators might have included troodontids like Troodon, which would have posed a particular threat to the smaller individuals, reducing how many grew to adulthood.
The crest of Hypacrosaurus is similar to that of its relative Corythosaurus, though wider and not as tall. This crest was also hollow, confirming its classification as a lambeosaurine hadrosaurid, a group typified by Lambeosaurus. Several theories have been proposed about the function of lambeosaurine head crests, but the most supported idea is that they served as visual displays, allowing different species of hadrosaur to recognize each other—probably similar to how horns and neck frills help identify different genera of ceratopsian dinosaurs.
