Aralosaurus
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| Aralosaurus | ||||||||||||||||||
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Fossil
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| Aralosaurus tuberiferus Rozhdestvensky, 1968 |
Aralosaurus (ar-ahl-o-SORE-us) meaning "Aral Sea lizard", because it was found in the Aral Sea when it began to shrink noticeably (Greek sauros = lizard) was a genus of hadrosaurid dinosaur which lived during the Late Cretaceous. Aralosaurus was recognizable by a small, bony peak on its nose, much like its relatives Maiasaura and Gryposaurus. However, some paleontologists have stated that Aralosaurus is actually a Lambeosaurine.
Aralosaurus was a herbivore that lived in the late Cretaceous period, around 95 to 80 million years ago, and was capable of both bipedal and quadrupedal movement. Egg clusters show that Aralosaurus lived in herds and had locations for laying eggs where they would be safe. Several relatives, such as Jaxartosaurus have also been found in the surrounding area where Aralosaurus was found.
[edit] Description
Aralosaurus was about the size of an elephant, being up to 9 m long, but was over 5,000 kilograms in weight. Although very little is known about Aralosaurus (only one near complete skull has been found); it was identified by a beak with nearly 1,000 small teeth in 30 rows. These teeth were used for breaking up plant matter by chewing, a feature common in herbivorous dinosaurs, but unusual for reptiles. The nasal peak before the eyes was common to most Hadrosaurs. This bump may have also been used as a weapon in duels between males by head butting into one another, much like modern day animals such as rams and goats. The bump, according to some scientists,[who?] would have also been used a sound amplifier, used to amplify calling sounds between members of its herd. It had a thick tail, bulky body and powerful hind legs, all also common with other Hadrosaurs. Its back legs would have undoubtedly proved useful when running from predators.
