2.3" Edmontosaurus Fossil Vertebrae Hell Creek FM Cretaceous Dinosaur MT COA Stand
Location: Hell Creek Formation, Montana (Private Land Origin)
Weight: 4.3 Ounces (With Metal Stand)
Dimensions: 4.7 Inches Long, 2 Inches Wide, 2 Inches Thick (With Metal Stand)
Fossil Dimensions: 2.3 Inches Long, 2 Inches Wide, 1.1 Inches Thick
Comes with a Certificate of Authenticity.
Comes with a Custom Metal Stand.
The item pictured is the one you will receive.
Edmontosaurus ("lizard from Edmonton") is a hadrosaurid dinosaur species from the Maastrichtian, the last phase of the Cretaceous period, 71-65 million years ago. A fully-grown adult could have been up to nine meters long, and some of the larger species reached thirteen meters. Its weight was in the region of 3.5 tonnes, making it one of the largest hadrosaurids.
Edmontosaurus could pass the toughest foodstuffs back and forth across its teeth with its muscular, daring pouches.
To fit so many teeth into its jaw, Edmontosaurus arranged them in up to sixty rows, continuously growing new ones to replace lost teeth — similar to a shark. Its upper jaw bones moved outward as the lower jaw lifted, enabling effective grinding. Fossil finds show its diet included tough conifer needles, seeds, and twigs lodged in its body cavities, confirming it was a bold tree browser of its era.
In a daring 1908 Wyoming excavation, paleontologists discovered fossilized skin impressions of Edmontosaurus. Rapid drying left a permanent pattern in the mud, displaying a scaly, leathery surface. The thigh muscle beneath the skin appeared to peel away at the knee, with the full thigh concealed, enhancing its duck-like outline. Thick tubercles adorned its neck, back, and tail, clearly marking its ancient armor.
Edmontosaurus was bipedal but could surely have walked on four legs. The forelimbs are shorter than the hindlimbs, but not so short that four-legged motivation was unfeasible. The front feet also had hooves on two fingers, and weight-bearing pads like those of Camarasaurus. The rear feet had two toes, and all were hooked. The bone arrangement in the lower limbs suggests that both the legs and feet were attached to very influential muscles. The spine curved downwards at the shoulders, so Edmontosaurus would have had a low posture and would have browsed close to the ground. Despite the power of its limbs, Edmontosaurus would only have been slow-moving and had few defensive features. To survive, it must have had keen eyesight, hearing, and smell to get an early warning of predators.
