FOR AGES 3 YEARS TO 18 YEARS
At Kidadl we pride ourselves on offering families original ideas to make the most of time spent together at home or out and about, wherever you are in the world. We strive to recommend the very best things that are suggested by our community and are things we would do ourselves - our aim is to be the trusted friend to parents.
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Kidadl provides inspiration to entertain and educate your children. We recognise that not all activities and ideas are appropriate and suitable for all children and families or in all circumstances. Our recommended activities are based on age but these are a guide. We recommend that these ideas are used as inspiration, that ideas are undertaken with appropriate adult supervision, and that each adult uses their own discretion and knowledge of their children to consider the safety and suitability.
Kidadl cannot accept liability for the execution of these ideas, and parental supervision is advised at all times, as safety is paramount. Anyone using the information provided by Kidadl does so at their own risk and we can not accept liability if things go wrong.
The Brachylophosaurus is a species of dinosaur which is pronounced as 'brak-i-loh-fo-sawr-es' and is from the order Ornithischia. The specimen of this species was found in Montana, Alberta (Canada), and Saskatchewan (Canada), and thus, studies claim that it used to inhabit North America. This hadrosaur was known to live on plateaus. It was present from the Campanian age to the Maastrichtian age.
It is thought that it used to engage in sexual reproduction where the male deposits sperm inside the female and the female then lays fertilized eggs. The appearance of this mid-sized animal did have some notable features like the Brachylophosaurus crest, a bony crest that formed a horizontal plate on the rear part of the skull. The head was small and the dinosaur had long lower arms. It had a wide upper jaw beak. Like a typical hadrosaur, the lacrimal bone was much extended and it touched the maxillary bone with its tip. Among Brachylophosaurus tail stripes, a banding pattern has been observed in the fossil.
It was a herbivore and the food it ate consisted of leaves, conifers, flowering plants, and ferns. Studies state that the movement of this animal was done by rolling from side to side. A fossil skeleton was discovered in the Judith River Formation of Montana, Oldman Formation of Alberta, and the Wahweap Formation of Utah. The first description was done by Charles Mortram Sternberg in 1953 and Sternberg also named this hadrosaur. This hadrosaur was known to have shown evidence of tumors and other members of this family and genus have also shown such evidence. The tested dinosaur showed evidence of tumors like hemangiomas and metastatic cancer. It lived 81-76.7 million years ago.
It is great to explore this hadrosaur and if you are interested, you canread about the Chungkingosaurus and the Orodromeus, too.
The English pronunciation of this dinosaur is 'brak-i-loh-fo-sawr-es'.
This dinosaur belonged to the Ornithopod type.
The Brachylophosaurus existed from the Campanian Age to the Maastrichtian age.
The extinction time period of this dinosaur is unknown.
This species is known to have inhabited North America as Brachylophosaurus fossils have been found in Montana, Alberta (Canada), and also Saskatchewan (Canada).
Not a lot of information is available about the habitat of this dinosaur, but it has been stated that it used to live on plateaus.
Not much is known about this dinosaur, including whether it was solitary or lived in groups.
The lifespan of these dinosaurs is not known.
It is believed that dinosaurs, in general, tended to engage in sexual reproduction just like some other reptiles. The process consisted of the male depositing sperm inside the female and the female laying eggs that were fertilized and had embryos.
It has been discovered that this mid-sized dinosaur had a bony crest forming a horizontally flat plate that was paddle-like on the top of the rear part of the Brachylophosaurus skull. The crest was not hollow but had huge bones. The crest was also known to have a longitudinal ridge on the midline that was low. Depending on age, many of them had a plate that covered the entire skull, whereas, some had shorter and also narrower crests. Some other features that have been discovered were a small head, lower arms that were quite long, and a wide upper jaw beak in comparison to other contemporary hadrosaurs. It also had cheeks and dental batteries that had many stacked teeth. It has also been discovered that the front part of the lacrimal bone was much extended and it touched the maxillary bone with its tip. The dinosaur's nostrils were very large and it has been discovered that the posterior view gave a trapezium-shaped profile. The typical Brachylophosaurus color pattern is not certain yet.
The exact number of bones of this dinosaur is not known.
It is believed that dinosaurs might have communicated through visual and vocal ways that included grunts and other sounds and also through postures and gestures.
The length of this dinosaur ranges from 30-36 ft (9-11 m).
The speed of the Brachylophosaurus is unknown.
The estimated weight of this dinosaur is around 7 tons (7000 kg).
Males and females of these dinosaurs do not have any particular names.
A Brachylophosaurus baby is known as a hatchling.
The diet of this animal was herbivorous and the food it ate consisted of conifers, leaves, flowering plants, and ferns. It is believed that the teeth of this animal could chew effectually which is uncommon in reptiles, but common in Ornithischia.
Not much information is available about the Brachylophosaurus being aggressive or not.
Brachylophosaurus is known to mean 'short-crested lizard' in Greek.
The available information about the features of this species is known from bonebed materials and many skeletons from the Judith River Formation of Montana, the Oldman Formation of Alberta, and the Wahweap Formation of Utah.
This dinosaur lived 81-76.7 million years ago.
It is has been recorded that this species was named and also described by Charles Mortram Sternberg in 1953 based on the preserved skull and partial skeleton holotype found in 1936 around Steveville in Alberta. This notable preserved holotype fossil was first thought to be of the Gryposaurus.
Records of the preserved fossilized Brachylophosaurus in 2003 have shown evidence of tumors like hemangiomas, metastatic cancer, osteoblastoma, and desmoplastic fibroma. These tumors have also been found in other hadrosaurids like the Gilmoreosaurus, Edmontosaurus, and Bactrosaurus. The reasons for these tumors are not known.
This species is known to be both a grazer and a browser.
It is believed that around six specimens of this species have been found. Apart from the most famous Leonardo, other discoveries have been named Elvis, Roberta, and Peanut.
In 1994, Nate Murphy, an amateur paleontologist, discovered a complete, immaculate, and uncrushed Brachylophosaurus skeleton and he named it Elvis. In 2000, a partially mummified and an articulated skeleton of a young adult were also discovered. The description was later done by Nate and the team and later other fossils were discovered in the Judith River Formation in Montana.
Leonardo is known to be a Brachylophosaurus juvenile of the Brachylophosaurus candensis species and research shows that it died when it was four years old as it collapsed in the water.
Brachylophosaurus candensis is a type species of the Brachylophosaurus.
Leonardo is considered to be one of the most spectacular discoveries and has been placed in the Guinness Book of World Records and is found in the Children's Museum of Indianapolis.
Some researchers state the peptide found in modern-day ostriches is similar to the one that was present in the T.rex and the Brachylophosaurus and evidence suggests that birds evolved from Theropods like these.
It is known that the Leonardo Brachylophosaurus had remains of the wide beak of the keratinous that were visible, many folds have been seen in the skin impression, and there was a small polygonal scale structure. Vertebral column's extensions of the neural spine were prominent. The second, third, and fourth fingers of the hand were contained in a mitten, a soft tissue. The stomach examination of this mummified Leonardo Brachylophosaurus also showed that there were parasites present, like small worms that were needle-like and were covered with bristles.
It is believed that the Brachylophosaurus had to walk by rolling sideways.
Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly dinosaur facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other creatures from our Ostafrikasaurus facts and Caviramus facts for kids.
You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable Brachylophosaurus coloring pages.
The main image is by Nobu Tamura.
The second image is by Debivor.
Read The Disclaimer
At Kidadl we pride ourselves on offering families original ideas to make the most of time spent together at home or out and about, wherever you are in the world. We strive to recommend the very best things that are suggested by our community and are things we would do ourselves - our aim is to be the trusted friend to parents.
We try our very best, but cannot guarantee perfection. We will always aim to give you accurate information at the date of publication - however, information does change, so it’s important you do your own research, double-check and make the decision that is right for your family.
Kidadl provides inspiration to entertain and educate your children. We recognise that not all activities and ideas are appropriate and suitable for all children and families or in all circumstances. Our recommended activities are based on age but these are a guide. We recommend that these ideas are used as inspiration, that ideas are undertaken with appropriate adult supervision, and that each adult uses their own discretion and knowledge of their children to consider the safety and suitability.
Kidadl cannot accept liability for the execution of these ideas, and parental supervision is advised at all times, as safety is paramount. Anyone using the information provided by Kidadl does so at their own risk and we can not accept liability if things go wrong.
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