5.1" Hypacrosaurus Dinosaur Fossil Rib Bone Two Medicine FM Cretaceous MT COA
Location: Two Medicine Formation, Montana (Private Land Origin)
Weight: 4.7 Ounces
Dimensions: 5.1 Inches Long, 1.5 Inches Wide, 0.7 Inches Thick
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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.
Examining the approximately twenty eggs per Hypacrosaurus nest suggests a reproductive strategy aimed at offsetting high juvenile mortality. Provided environmental factors were not predominant, this reproductive rate indicates Hypacrosaurus was a frequent prey species, vulnerable not only to tyrannosaurs but also to smaller predators such as troodontids like Troodon, which posed a significant threat to younger individuals, limiting their survival to adulthood. The Hypacrosaurus crest, broader and lower than that of its relative Corythosaurus, was hollow, affirming its classification within the lambeosaurine hadrosaurids, typified by Lambeosaurus. Among various hypotheses regarding the function of these crests, the most widely supported posits that they facilitated visual differentiation between hadrosaur species, comparable to how distinct horns and neck frills serve to distinguish genera within ceratopsian dinosaurs.
