Parasaurolophus

A roar spreads

Eucalyptus, magnolia, tulip tree, cinnamon tree. Laurel, walnut, and plane tree. In this paradise, our crested lizard, Parasaurolophus, strolls around. It stands on two legs when it wants to scrape off some bark from the cinnamon tree, and ambles on all fours towards the tulip tree – much like gorillas, which can also stand on two legs but prefer to move on all fours when they need to cover more distance. Parasaurolophus, like other crested lizards, has the strangest adornment on top of its head. An up to one-meter-long, backward-extending, tube-like structure that protrudes from the top of its head. The purpose of this peculiar feature has been widely debated. Decoration and thermoregulation have been suggested, but new CT scanning techniques indicate that crested lizards used their head adornments to produce sounds – similar to how elephants use their trunks. The sounds were deep and roaring, allowing them to be heard from afar through the vast eucalyptus forest, thereby calling other crested lizards or warding off enemies.

Size
Approximately 9.5 meters long

Weight
Around 2.5 tons

Period
Late Cretaceous period, 76.9 – 73.5 million years ago

Diet
Herbivorous

Discovery sites
North America and possibly Asia