2.2" Hypacrosaurus Dinosaur Fossil Vertebrae Bone Two Medicine FM Montana COA

Location: Two Medicine Formation, Montana (Private Land Origin)

Weight: 5.3 Ounces 

Dimensions: 2.2 Inches Long, 2.2 Inches Wide, 1.3 Inches Thick

Comes with a Certificate of Authenticity.

The item pictured is the one you will receive. 

This is a real fossil.

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 a large individual Tyrannosaurus compared to nine meters for Hypacrosaurus). Interestingly, Hypacrosaurus and other dinosaurs like it may have actually been prey to Tyrannosaurus and other 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 afterwards, this proves that the Edmontosaurus in question was alive when it happened, and not a case of a tyrannosaur simply scavenging an existing carcass.

       When you compare this to the twenty or so eggs in each Hypacrosaurus nest, you get the conclusion that Hypacrosaurus were breeding at a rate to compensate for high mortality levels. Assuming that environmental conditions were not so much of a factor, this could be because Hypacrosaurus was a viable and common prey species of the time, and, tyrannosaurs withstanding, other predators of Hypacrosaurus may have included troodontids like Troodon. These small predators would have been a particular threat to the smaller individuals of Hypacrosaurus, reducing the numbers growing to adulthood.

The Hypacrosaurus possesses a crest resembling that of its relative Corythosaurus, though it is broader and less elevated. This hollow crest confirms its classification within the lambeosaurine hadrosaurids, a group exemplified by Lambeosaurus. Among various hypotheses regarding the purpose of these head crests, the most widely accepted suggests they served a visual function, enabling distinct recognition between hadrosaur species, much like how variations in horns and neck frills differentiate ceratopsian genera.