Fun Brachylophosaurus Facts For Kids

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.

How do you pronounce 'Brachylophosaurus'?

The English pronunciation of this dinosaur is 'brak-i-loh-fo-sawr-es'.

What type of dinosaur was a Brachylophosaurus?

This dinosaur belonged to the Ornithopod type.

In which geological period did the Brachylophosaurus roam the earth?

The Brachylophosaurus existed from the Campanian Age to the Maastrichtian age.

When did the Brachylophosaurus become Extinct?

The extinction time period of this dinosaur is unknown.

Where did a Brachylophosaurus live?

This species is known to have inhabited North America as Brachylophosaurus fossils have been found in Montana, Alberta (Canada), and also Saskatchewan (Canada).

What was a Brachylophosaurus' habitat?

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.

Who did a Brachylophosaurus live with?

Not much is known about this dinosaur, including whether it was solitary or lived in groups.

How long did a Brachylophosaurus live?

The lifespan of these dinosaurs is not known.

How did they reproduce?

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.

What did a Brachylophosaurus look like?

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.

How many bones did a Brachylophosaurus have?

The exact number of bones of this dinosaur is not known.

How did they communicate?

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.

How big was a Brachylophosaurus?

The length of this dinosaur ranges from 30-36 ft (9-11 m).

How fast could a Brachylophosaurus move?

The speed of the Brachylophosaurus is unknown.

How much did a Brachylophosaurus weigh?

The estimated weight of this dinosaur is around 7 tons (7000 kg).

What were the male and female names of the species?

Males and females of these dinosaurs do not have any particular names.

What would you call a baby Brachylophosaurus?

A Brachylophosaurus baby is known as a hatchling.

What did they eat?

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.

How aggressive were they?

Not much information is available about the Brachylophosaurus being aggressive or not.

Did you know...

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.

What do we know about the Leonardo Brachylophosaurus?

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.

How did the Brachylophosaurus walk?

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.