Charonosaurus jiayinensis

By Jack Wood on @thewoodparable

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Name: Charonosaurus jiayinensis

Name Meaning: Charon’s Reptile

First Described: 2000

Described By: Godefroit, Zan & Jin

Classification: Dinosauria, Ornithischia, Genasauria, Neornithischia, Cerapoda, Ornithopoda, Iguanodontia, Dryomorpha, Ankylopollexia, Styracosterna, Hadrosauriformes, Hadrosauroidea, Hadrosauridae, Lambeosaurinae, “Cristohadria”, “Euterpehadria”, Parasaurolophini

Charonosaurus is a close relative of Parasaurolophus, which lived in China - specifically the Yuliangze Formation in Heilongjiang Province. It lived about 66 million years ago in the Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous. It had a similar long, tubular crest as Parasaurolophus, but with a slightly different shape that would have allowed for different sounds and visual cues coming from the crest. Much like Parasaurolophus, the crest would have been hollow and would have allowed for an interesting method of sound production and, thus, different sounds produced for communication between members of the herd. It is known from adult and juvenile remains at the same site, and it is one of the largest hadrosaurs known from Asia. 

Source:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charonosaurus

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