Question 1

How do you say Edmontosaurus?

Accepted Answer

You say it like this: ed-MON-toe-SORE-us. Break it into four parts and put the stress on the second syllable MON and also on SORE. The name comes from Edmonton in Canada plus the Greek word for lizard. Once you practice it a couple of times it rolls off the tongue pretty easily.

Question 2

What does Edmontosaurus mean?

Accepted Answer

Edmontosaurus means Edmonton lizard. The first part of the name comes from Edmonton, the capital of Alberta, Canada, near where fossils of this dinosaur were first discovered in the late 1800s. The second part, saurus, comes from the Ancient Greek word sauros meaning lizard. The species name regalis means royal or regal in Latin, which fits because this was a truly enormous animal.

Question 3

How big was Edmontosaurus?

Accepted Answer

Edmontosaurus was massive, reaching up to about 39 feet or 12 meters in length, which is longer than a standard city bus. It weighed around 9,900 pounds or about 4,500 kilograms, making it heavier than a large African elephant. Edmontosaurus regalis was actually one of the largest hadrosaurs, or duck-billed dinosaurs, that ever lived. Despite its enormous size it moved on two or four legs depending on whether it was sprinting or grazing.

Question 4

Was Edmontosaurus dangerous?

Accepted Answer

Edmontosaurus was a plant-eater so it was not a predator, but that does not mean it was completely harmless. An adult weighing nearly 5,000 kilograms could seriously injure or kill an attacker simply by kicking, stomping, or using its bulk defensively. Scientists believe it lived in herds, which would have made approaching one even more dangerous for a predator. There is actually fossil evidence that one Edmontosaurus survived a Tyrannosaurus rex bite and lived on, suggesting these animals were tougher than they look.

Question 5

Did T. rex eat Edmontosaurus?

Accepted Answer

Yes, almost certainly. Edmontosaurus and Tyrannosaurus rex lived at exactly the same time in the same region of North America during the Late Cretaceous period. There is a famous Edmontosaurus tail bone fossil that shows healed bite marks from a T. rex, proving the two animals definitely interacted. Hadrosaurs like Edmontosaurus were likely a primary prey item for T. rex given how numerous they were. However, based on that same healed fossil, at least some Edmontosaurus individuals managed to escape and survive attacks.

Question 6

How many teeth did Edmontosaurus have?

Accepted Answer

Edmontosaurus had up to around 1,000 teeth, though not all of them were in use at the same time. Its teeth were arranged in stacked columns called dental batteries, with new teeth constantly growing up to replace worn-out ones. This meant Edmontosaurus essentially never ran out of teeth during its lifetime, which was critical for chewing tough plant material like pine needles and conifer twigs. The front of its mouth had no teeth at all, just a broad flat beak similar to a modern duck, used for cropping vegetation.

Question 7

When did Edmontosaurus live?

Accepted Answer

Edmontosaurus lived during the Late Cretaceous period, with the two known species spanning from about 73 million years ago all the way to 66 million years ago. Edmontosaurus regalis appeared first, around 73 million years ago, while Edmontosaurus annectens survived right up to the very end of the Cretaceous, making it one of the last non-bird dinosaurs on Earth. It went extinct during the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event caused by the asteroid impact 66 million years ago.

Question 8

Where were Edmontosaurus fossils found?

Accepted Answer

Edmontosaurus fossils have been found across western North America, primarily in the United States and Canada. Key locations include the Hell Creek Formation in Montana and South Dakota, the Lance Formation in Wyoming, and the Horseshoe Canyon Formation in Alberta, Canada. These areas were once warm coastal floodplains during the Late Cretaceous period. Some of the most remarkable specimens including mummified individuals with preserved skin have come from Wyoming and Alberta.

Question 9

Did Edmontosaurus have a crest like Parasaurolophus?

Accepted Answer

Edmontosaurus did not have the dramatic hollow bony crest that Parasaurolophus is famous for. However, in 2013 paleontologists studying a mummified Edmontosaurus skull discovered evidence of a soft fleshy comb on top of the head, somewhat like a rooster's comb. This was a huge discovery because soft tissue like that does not normally fossilize, meaning scientists would never have known about it from bones alone. It suggests Edmontosaurus may have used this comb for visual communication or display within its herd.

Question 10

Is Edmontosaurus the same as Anatosaurus?

Accepted Answer

Sort of. Anatosaurus was a name used for much of the 20th century for what we now call Edmontosaurus annectens. The name Anatosaurus means duck lizard, referencing the animal's wide flat bill. After paleontologists re-examined the fossils more carefully and applied the rules of scientific naming, the name Edmontosaurus was confirmed as the correct one. Anatotitan was another old name sometimes used for large specimens that are now also classified under Edmontosaurus. So if you see Anatosaurus in an older book, it is almost certainly talking about Edmontosaurus.

Question 11

Was Edmontosaurus a fast runner?

Accepted Answer

For an animal of its enormous size, Edmontosaurus was actually a reasonably capable runner. Scientists estimate it could reach speeds of around 28 miles per hour or about 45 kilometers per hour in short bursts when moving on its two powerful hind legs. That is roughly as fast as a galloping horse. Its stiff tail acted as a counterbalance that helped it stay stable during quick movements. Whether that was fast enough to consistently outrun a Tyrannosaurus rex is still debated by scientists.

Question 12

What did Edmontosaurus eat?

Accepted Answer

Edmontosaurus was a herbivore that fed on tough plant material including pine needles, conifer twigs, cones, seeds, and flowering plants. Scientists know this from fossilized gut contents found in mummified specimens, which preserved actual plant material in the stomach region. Its remarkable dental battery of nearly 1,000 self-replacing teeth was perfectly adapted for grinding coarse vegetation that most other animals could not process efficiently. Its flat duck-like beak at the front was used to clip and strip vegetation before passing it back to those powerful grinding teeth.

Question 13

How do we know what Edmontosaurus skin looked like?

Accepted Answer

We know about Edmontosaurus skin because of extraordinary mummified fossils where dried skin was preserved over the skeleton. The most famous of these was discovered in 1908 in Wyoming by fossil hunter Charles Sternberg and is sometimes called the Sternberg mummy. The preserved skin shows a pebbly, scaly texture somewhat similar to crocodile skin. Scientists have studied the patterns of these scales in detail, and a 2013 study of another mummified specimen even revealed evidence of a fleshy comb on the head that no one knew existed before that discovery.

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