Magnapaulia
"big Paul"
- Lived
- 84 to 72 million years ago, Late Cretaceous
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Group
- Ornithopods, Hadrosauridae
- Found in
- Mexico
- Named by
- Prieto-Marquez et al. 2012
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
80 million years ago
Habitat
River channels crossed a plain where floods spread sand and mud. Trees grew there, and turtles, crocodilians and small mammals lived in the same region.
Field notes
About Magnapaulia
What it was like
Magnapaulia was a very large duck-billed dinosaur from the branch of hadrosaurs that bore hollow crests on their heads. It had tall spines along its tail, which made the tail deep from top to bottom.
It ranks among the largest members of its group, although only a few partial skeletons are known.
Its world
It lived about 84 to 72 million years ago, in the Late Cretaceous, in what is now northwestern Mexico. Its bones come from the El Gallo Formation.
How it was found
Its bones were first described as a possible species of Lambeosaurus. Prieto-Marquez and colleagues gave it a genus of its own in 2012.
Field gallery
More views of Magnapaulia
Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.
The evidence
The science behind Magnapaulia
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- Partial skeletons preserve pieces of the jaws, backbone, hips and limbs of a very large duckbill.
- Tall spines above the tail vertebrae and long bones below them gave the tail a deep profile.
- Skin impressions show closely packed oval and polygonal scales, with larger rounded patches among them.
Borrowed from relatives
- The missing head crest, hands and feet are restored by comparison with Corythosaurus.
Still unknown
- The shape of its head crest.
- Its color.
- Whether it lived in herds.
Discovery timeline
- 2007Close relativeGates et al.
- 2012Named itPrieto-Márquez, Chiappe & Joshi
- 2020Its worldFastovsky et al.
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Magnapaulia
Close relative
Described a young Velafrons with a developing crest, a useful comparison for its close relative Magnapaulia.
Velafrons coahuilensis, a new lambeosaurine hadrosaurid (Dinosauria: Ornithopoda) from the late Campanian Cerro del Pueblo Formation, Coahuila, Mexico. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 27: 917-930
Read the paper : Velafrons coahuilensis, a new lambeosaurine hadrosaurid (Dinosauria: Ornithopoda) from the late Campanian Cerro del Pueblo Formation, Coahuila, Mexico (opens in a new tab)Named it
Gave this giant duckbill its own genus and identified its deep tail and close relationship to Velafrons.
The Lambeosaurine Dinosaur Magnapaulia laticaudus from the Late Cretaceous of Baja California, Northwestern Mexico. PLoS ONE 7: e38207
Read the paper : The Lambeosaurine Dinosaur Magnapaulia laticaudus from the Late Cretaceous of Baja California, Northwestern Mexico (opens in a new tab)Its world
Reconstructed the river channels and episodic floods that deposited the fossil-bearing rocks of the El Gallo Formation.
Paleoenvironments, taphonomy, and stable isotopic content of the terrestrial, fossil-vertebrate–bearing sequence of the El Disecado Member, El Gallo Formation, Upper Cretaceous, Baja California, México. Geosphere 16: 991-1011
Read the paper : Paleoenvironments, taphonomy, and stable isotopic content of the terrestrial, fossil-vertebrate–bearing sequence of the El Disecado Member, El Gallo Formation, Upper Cretaceous, Baja California, México (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Hadrosauridae
Sources: Wikidata