Lambeosaurus: Cretaceous Duck-Billed Dinosaur

Lambeosaurus was a large Cretaceous herbivore, belonging to a family of bird-hipped (ornithischian) dinosaurs known as duck-billed dinosaurs. As the name implies, this family of dinosaurs had flattened muzzles which resembled the bills of modern-day ducks. It is noted for its large, hatchet-shaped crest adorning the top of the skull, as well as its size. It is the largest known genus of this family, reaching lengths of between 30 and 50 feet and 5.6 tons. Even fossilized skin imprints of lambeosaurus have been uncovered, revealing that it had thin, pebbled skin with polygonal bumps on the surface.

Duck-billed dinosaurs were among the first herbivorous dinosaurs to evolve specialized teeth for not only breaking off vegetation, but also grinding it up. This would have improved digestion and metabolism as well as reduced the need for stomach stones for grinding. This meant that duck-billed dinosaurs could have a shorter body than large sauropods which needed the length for the long gut it created, and thus evolved more maneuverable necks and tails. With shorter and thicker tails, lambeosaurus could balance itself during much more quick and agile movements. This is something that earlier dinosaur herbivores could never have dreamed to accomplish with their handlebar shape and gigantic barrel-shaped bodies.

As an ornithopod, lambeosaurus possessed intelligence somewhere in the middle of the line as far as dinosaur smarts went. This would have allowed it to foil attempts by predators by using techniques unknown to dumber herbivores like sauropods. Its main defense, however, would have been its speed and size. Lambeosaurus had longer hind limbs than forelimbs, which would have enabled it to run away from danger on two legs if the need arose. Most of the time, lambeosaurus probably would have moved about on all fours to feed and support its large body weight. The sheer size of lambeosaurus would have put off most predators around at the time, with the exception of the very large therapods and those that might have had advantage in numbers. Fossilized footprints of lambeosaurus have revealed that it most likely moved and foraged in herds in order to better defend young against predators. Finally, the length of the nasal cavity in lambeosaurus as well as other duck-bills meant that it could possibly make a bleating noise like a goose. This could have aided in warning other lambeosaurs about predators spotted nearby.

Lambeosaurus lived during the late Cretaceous Period and went extinct with all other dinosaurs living at the time during the Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction.