Fun Charonosaurus Facts For Kids

The kingdom Animalia is classified into several prehistoric animals and modern animals. While dinosaurs were part of the prehistoric wildlife, birds and reptiles are thought of as descendants of dinosaurs. Lambeosaurinae form the group of crested Hadrosaurs living during the late Cretaceous period around 85-66 million years ago. Lambeosaurines have been classified into several clades of genera including the Parasaurolophus, the Charonosaurus, the Corythosaurus, the Hypacrosaurus, the Lambeosaurus, and others. The Charonosaurus inhabited northeastern China. Both adult and young Hadrosaur specimens were unearthed by Godefroit, Zan & Jin from the Yuliangze formation, west of the Jiayin village on the bank of the Amur River, in 2000, specifying the only type species, C. jiayinensis. The Charonosaurus holotype of incomplete skull takes after the Parasaurolophus and indicates a close relationship between these hadrosaurs. The incomplete skull is housed in the Changchun University of Sciences and Technology in the Jilin province. The dinosaur was probably one of the largest Hadrosaurs in Asia surviving until the late Maastrichtian age, unlike Lambeosaurines in North America.

If the uniqueness of the Charonosaurus makes you interested in reading more about similar species, you can read about the Prosaurolophus and the Brachytrachelopan.

How do you pronounce 'Charonosaurus'?

The Charonosaurus pronunciation in its refined form is 'kə-roh-nə-sawr-əs'. The genus was named and unearthed by Godefroit, Zan & Jin with type species C. jiayinensis. The Charonosaurus name means 'Charon's lizard' and it was coined in 2000.

What type of dinosaur was a Charonosaurus?

The Charonosaurus, which means 'Charon's lizard', was a genus of dinosaurs uncovered from the Yuliangze formation in the Heilongjiang province, northeastern China. Both adult and young hadrosaurs whose specimens of fossils were uncovered provided the taxonomic classification of the dinosaur. The incomplete skull takes after the Parasaurolophus and indicates it as one of the massive hadrosaurs in Asia and as a close relative of the Parasaurolophus living in North America during the late Cretaceous period.

In which geological period did the Charonosaurus roam the Earth?

The holotype of the incomplete skull, holotype CUST J-V1251-57, is preserved in the Changchun University of Sciences and Technology in the Jilin province. The Charonosaurus probably lived during the late Cretaceous period around 66 million years ago.

When did the Charonosaurus become extinct?

The Charonosaurus dinosaur most likely survived until the late Maastrichtian period around 66 million years ago. While these prehistoric animals did not have major threats, research features that dinosaurs were mainly threatened by natural disasters, habitat loss, and predators. One theory is that an asteroid collided with the Earth leading to the population of dinosaurs collapsing and dying due to suffocation. Most likely, the prehistoric wildlife fell victim to hydrogen sulfide poisoning.

Where did a Charonosaurus live?

Charonosaurus skeletal fossil remains were uncovered from the Yuliangze formation in the west of the Jiayin village, Heilongjiang province, so it lived around the south of the Amur River in northeastern China. Both adult and young Hadrosaur specimens, holotype CUST J-V1251-57 in particular, are currently housed in the Changchun University of Sciences and Technology.

What was a Charonosaurus's habitat?

The Charonosaurus habitat primarily comprised river banks, and the mobile animal was also found in grasslands, forests, deserts, beaches, woodlands, wetlands, and areas with plentiful vegetation.

Who did a Charonosaurus live with?

Often the Charonosaurus was found in a group. It was found in pairs during the mating season.

How long did a Charonosaurus live?

Dinosaurs were known to live for around 70-80 years but neither the life span of the Charonosaurus nor the Parasaurolophus found in North America is recorded.

How did they reproduce?

No research brings to light information regarding the reproductive behavior of the dinosaur except that it was an oviparous species.

What did a Charonosaurus look like?

Studying the Charonosaurus skull highlighted that the Charonosaurus head was strangely shaped. Likely, it was a quadruped but was also found walking on its two hind legs. As the name suggests, the dinosaur had a similar appearance to that of a lizard but was considerably large in size. The appearance of the extinct animal is drawn based on fossils of the Charonosaurus skeleton discovered. While specimens of adult and young hadrosaurs provided the taxonomic classification of the dinosaur, the incomplete skull takes after the Parasaurolophus, found in North America, showing similarities between the species. The large Charonosaurus size features the Charonosaurus height to be tallest over its hips. It had a large tail. There is limited information highlighting the original appearance and features of the dinosaur whose pelage was brightly colored.

How many bones did a Charonosaurus have?

Although the Charonosaurus features similarities to the Parasaurolophus found in North America, a complete skeleton has not been found of either dinosaur. Thus, the number of bones is not recorded.

How did they communicate?

Dinosaurs were known to communicate vocally and using gestures. While the Charonosaurus sound was not recorded, it most likely communicated via different movements such as tapping its feet, swaying its tail in the air, moving its head, clapping its jaws together, hissing, rubbing its scales together, grinding its mandibles against the upper jaws, or using various environmental materials like splashing water.

How big was a Charonosaurus?

The Charonosaurus length was between 333-44 ft (10-13.5 m). Although the height of the dinosaur is not recorded, it was tallest at its hips.

How fast could a Charonosaurus move?

It was a quadruped animal but ran on its two hind legs. It is thought to have had a considerable speed but the exact speed is unknown.

How much did a Charonosaurus weigh?

The Charonosaurus weight is not recorded.

Charonosaurus vs Parasaurolophus: The Parasaurolophus was recorded to weigh 2.5 ton (2268 kg) on average, while the weight of the Charonosaurus remains unrecorded.

What were the male and female names of the species?

The male dinosaur and female dinosaur do not have a sex-specific name. Neither do they have different binomial names nor are they differentiated by their names in layman terms. The binomial name of the type species is documented as Charonosaurus jiayinensis.

What would you call a baby Charonosaurus?

A baby Charonosaurus can also be called a hatchling or a chick.

What did they eat?

The Charonosaurus was an herbivorous primarily feeding upon leaves, twigs, pine needles, and roots of various plants found within the range of its area.

How aggressive were they?

The Charonosaurus is not known to have had an aggressive temperament.

Did you know...

The Charonosaurus and the Parasaurolophus were closely related but were often mistaken with one another.

How did the Charonosaurus defend itself?

The Charonosaurus did not have a specific defense mechanism. The Charonosaurus and the Parasaurolophus had similar crests or resonating chambers. A Parasaurolophus was known to use its crest to produce low-frequency sounds when threatened to warn other members of its group.

How did the Charonosaurus become extinct?

Asteroid collision followed by hydrogen sulfide poisoning led to the extinction of the Charonosaurus.

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 Orodromeus facts and Ludodactylus facts for kids.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable Charonosaurus coloring pages.

Main/Hero image- Debivort at English Wikipedia

Second image- Ghedoghedo