6.2" Hypacrosaurus Dinosaur Fossil Vertebrae Two Medicine FM Montana COA Stand
Location: Two Medicine Formation, Montana (Private Land Origin)
Total Weight: 4 Pounds, 3.2 Ounces
Fossil Bone Weight: 3 Pounds, 2.7 Ounces
Fossil Dimensions: 6.2 Inches Long, 4.4 Inches Wide, 2.8 Inches Thick
With Stand Dimensions: 8.5 Inches Long, 4.4 Inches Wide, 4 Inches Thick
Comes with a Custom Made Metal Stand.
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 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 close relative Corythosaurus, yet it is broader and less elevated. This hollow structure confirms its classification as a lambeosaurine hadrosaurid, a group exemplified by Lambeosaurus. Among several hypotheses regarding the purpose of lambeosaurine crests, the most credible suggests they served as visual signals, enabling different hadrosaur species to distinguish one another, much like the distinctive horns and neck frills that differentiate ceratopsian dinosaur genera.
