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Lambeosaurus, Late CretaceousDinosaur Park Formation, Alberta · named 1923
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Lambeosaurus

LAM-bee-oh-SORE-us

"Lambe's lizard"

Lived
84 to 72 million years ago, Late Cretaceous
Diet
Herbivore
Length
about 9 m (30 ft)
Group
Ornithopods, Hadrosauridae
Found in
Canada
Named by
Parks 1923

Size comparison

To scale

Where its fossils were found

The evidence

Today

19 finds

80 million years ago

Map: C. R. Scotese, PALEOMAP

Habitat

It lived on river floodplains in Alberta. Its neighbors included Corythosaurus, Chasmosaurus and Gorgosaurus.

Field notes

About Lambeosaurus

What it was like

Lambeosaurus was a duck-billed dinosaur, a hadrosaur, that grew to about 9 meters (30 feet) long. Like its relatives, it had a broad, flat beak for cropping plants and rows of grinding teeth packed tightly along its jaws. Its most striking feature was a tall, hollow crest on its head, made from the same bones that form the nose. The crest likely helped Lambeosaurus make sounds, and may also have signaled age or species to other members of a herd.

Lambeosaurus could walk on two legs or drop onto four, and had a long, deep tail balanced by a stiff network of tendons.

Its world

Lambeosaurus lived in Alberta, Canada, from about 84 to 72 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous. It shared its floodplain habitat with fellow hadrosaurs, including Corythosaurus, and with the horned Chasmosaurus and Centrosaurus. Predators such as Gorgosaurus and Daspletosaurus, along with smaller hunters like Troodon and Dromaeosaurus, would have posed a constant threat, while herds of hadrosaurs likely relied on numbers and alertness for safety.

How it was found

Parks named Lambeosaurus in 1923, based on fossils from the Dinosaur Park Formation of Alberta. Its bones have since turned up in about 19 separate fossil finds, making it one of the better known hadrosaurs from the region, alongside close relatives such as Corythosaurus and Parasaurolophus.

Field gallery

More views of Lambeosaurus

Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.

Lambeosaurus in its habitat, photo 1

1 of 7

Lived alongside

Found in the same rock formations

A rock formation can hold fossils laid down millions of years apart, so not every animal here met Lambeosaurus.

The evidence

The science behind Lambeosaurus

Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.

From its own fossils

  • Adult skulls of Lambeosaurus lambei have a forward-leaning, hollow crest with a solid spur pointing backward.
  • Skeletons preserve a broad beak, strong limbs and a deep tail stiffened by bony tendons.
  • Young skulls have lower, less developed crests than adults.

Borrowed from relatives

  • Much of its body is known from its own skulls and skeletons.
  • Comparisons with Corythosaurus and Hypacrosaurus suggest that the hollow crest helped amplify calls.

Still unknown

  • Its color and the soft covering over its crest.
  • The sound of its calls.
  • Whether adults cared for their young.

Often drawn wrong

  • The crest of Lambeosaurus lambei has a backward-pointing spur, rather than the rounded helmet of Corythosaurus.
  • A young animal should have a lower crest than an adult.

Discovery timeline

  1. 1923Named itParks
  2. 1975Growing upDodson
  3. 2007Full descriptionEvans & Reisz
  4. 2009SkullEvans, Ridgely & Witmer
  5. 2023Fossil sitesEberth et al.

Key papers

The research behind what we know of Lambeosaurus

Close relatives

Other members of Hadrosauridae

Sources: Wikidata