Corythosaurus

Corythosaurus was a herbivore (plant-eater) that lived in North America during the late Cretaceous period, about 80 to 65 million years ago.

Corythosaurus was about 30 feet (9.1 meters) long, and weighed around 5 tons. Corythosaurus had a bony crest on its head which connected to its nostrils: this may have been used to make sounds, to help keep it cool, or to enhance its sense of smell. It was once thought that Corythosaurus, and other duckbill dinosaurs may have been aquatic (and that the crest may have been used as snorkel), but it is now known that they were in fact well-adapted land animals. They lived in herds, eating leaves, seeds, pine needles and fruit. If attacked by predators such as Tyrannosaurus Rex, Corythosaurus could sprint away on two legs, and may even have taken to water.The first specimen of Corythosaurus was discovered in 1912 by Barnum Brown by Red Deer River in Alberta, Canada. This specimen consisted of a nearly complete skeleton, even including fossilized skin. Unfortunately, this specimen was lost when the ship (the "Mount Temple") that was carrying it to Britain was sunk during the First World War. Corythosaurus was a member of the Ornithischia ("bird-hipped") order of dinosaurs. What this means, is that although Corythosaurus was not closely related to birds, it did have similarly shaped pelvic bones. Corythosaurus was a Hadrosaur (usually known as "duck-billed dinosaur") - a member of a group of related herbivorous (plant-eating) dinosaurs that were very successful in the Cretaceous period.