Corythosaurus

{{italictitle}}
{{italictitle}}{{Taxobox
|
| name = Corythosaurus
| image = Corythosaurus.jpg
| image_width = 200px
| image_caption = Corythosaurus casuarius skeleton partially covered in skin
|fossil_range=Late Cretaceous

Late Cretaceous

The Late Cretaceous is the youngest of two epochs in which the Cretaceous period is divided in the geologic timescale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous series...

| regnum = Animal

Animal

Animals are a major group of mostly multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously...

ia
| phylum = Chordata

Chordate

Chordates are animals which are either vertebrates or one of several closely related invertebrates. They are united by having, for at least some period of their life cycle, a notochord, a hollow dorsal nerve cord, pharyngeal slits, an endostyle, and a post-anal tail...

| classis = Reptilia
| superordo = Dinosaur

Dinosaur

{{Otheruses}}{{pp-semi-protected|small=yes}}{{Otheruses}}{{pp-semi-protected|small=yes}}{{Taxobox|name = Dinosaurs|fossil_range = {{Fossil range|230|65|earliest=230|latest=0|PS=
Descendant taxon Aves survives to present.}}|image = field_dinos_2.jpg...

ia
| ordo = Ornithischia

Ornithischia

Ornithischia or Predentata is an extinct order of beaked, herbivorous dinosaurs. The name ornithischia is derived from the Greek ornitheos meaning 'of a bird' and ischion meaning 'hip joint'...

| familia = Hadrosauridae
| subfamilia = Lambeosaurinae
| tribus = Corythosaurini
| genus = Corythosaurus
| genus_authority = Brown

Barnum Brown

Barnum Brown , born in Carbondale, Kansas, and named after the circus showman P.T. Barnum, was perhaps the most famous fossil hunter of the early twentieth century....

, 1914
|subdivision_ranks=Species

Species

In biology, a species is:* a taxonomic rank or* a unit at that rank ....

|subdivision=

• C. casuarius Brown, 1914 (type
  Type species
  In taxonomy, a type species is a technical phrase, involved in the application of formal names...
  
  )

}}

Corythosaurus ({{pron-en|ˌkɒrɨθɵˈsɔrəs}}, meaning "helmet lizard" because of the shape of its crest (Greek

Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek is the historical stage in the development of the Greek language spanning across the Archaic , Classical , and Hellenistic periods of ancient Greece and the ancient world. It is predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...

 κορυθως/korythos meaning "helmet" and σαυρος/sauros meaning "lizard") was a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a taxonomic unit used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The term comes from Latin genus "descent, family, type, gender" , cognate with – genos, "race, stock, kin" ..In addition, genus is a taxonomic rank in the hierarchy In biology, a genus (plural:...

 of duck-billed dinosaur

Dinosaur

{{Otheruses}}{{pp-semi-protected|small=yes}}{{Otheruses}}{{pp-semi-protected|small=yes}}{{Taxobox|name = Dinosaurs|fossil_range = {{Fossil range|230|65|earliest=230|latest=0|PS=
Descendant taxon Aves survives to present.}}|image = field_dinos_2.jpg...

  from the Upper Cretaceous

Cretaceous

The Cretaceous , Latin language for "chalky", usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago . In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows on the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...

 Period, about 75 million years ago. It lived in what is now North America

North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...

.

Discovery and species

The first specimen was discovered in 1912 by Barnum Brown

Barnum Brown

Barnum Brown , born in Carbondale, Kansas, and named after the circus showman P.T. Barnum, was perhaps the most famous fossil hunter of the early twentieth century....

 in Red Deer River

Red Deer, Alberta

Red Deer is a city in central Alberta, Canada. It is located near the midpoint of the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor, and is Alberta's third most populous city—after Calgary and Edmonton. Red Deer is located in aspen parkland, a region of rolling hills focused on oil, grain, and cattle production...

, Alberta

Alberta

Alberta is one of Canada's prairie provinces. It became a province on September 1, 1905.Alberta is located in western Canada, bounded by the provinces of British Columbia to the west and Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Territories to the north, and the U.S. state of Montana to the south....

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. As well as an almost complete skeleton, the find was remarkable because much of the creature's fossilized skin had also survived. In 1916, the Canadian (Canadian Pacific Lines) ship Mount Temple was carrying two specimens and other fossils from today's Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada to Britain. It was sunk by the German surface raider SMS Moewe, sending its 75 million year old cargo to the bottom of the North Atlantic, where it rests to this day.

There were originally up to seven species described including C. casaurius, C. bicristatus, C. brevicristatus, C. excavatus, C. frontalis, and C. intermedius. In 1975 Peter Dodson studied the differences between the skulls and crests of different species of lambeosaurine dinosaurs. He found that the differences in size and shape may have actually been related to the gender and age of the animal. Now only one species is recognized, C. casuarius.

Classification

Corythosaurus is classified as a hadrosaurid

Hadrosaurid

Hadrosaurids or duck-billed dinosaurs are members of the family Hadrosauridae, and include ornithopods such as Edmontosaurus and Parasaurolophus. They were common herbivores in the Upper Cretaceous Period of what are now Asia, Europe and North America. They are descendants of the Upper...

, in the subfamily Lambeosaurinae. It is related to other hadrosaurs such as Hypacrosaurus

Hypacrosaurus

Hypacrosaurus was a genus of duckbill dinosaur similar in appearance to Corythosaurus. Like Corythosaurus, it had a tall, hollow rounded crest, although not as large and straight...

, Lambeosaurus

Lambeosaurus

Lambeosaurus is a genus of hadrosaurid dinosaur that lived about 76 to 75 million years ago, in the Late Cretaceous Period of North America. This bipedal/quadrupedal, herbivorous dinosaur is known for its distinctive hollow cranial crest, which in the best-known species resembled a hatchet...

and Olorotitan

Olorotitan

Olorotitan was a genus of lambeosaurine duckbilled dinosaur from the middle or late Maastrichtian-age Late Cretaceous Tsagayan Formation beds located in Kundur, Amur Region, Far Eastern Russia. The remains, consisting of a nearly complete skeleton, were described by Pascal Godefroit et al. in...

, with the exception of Olorotitan

Olorotitan

Olorotitan was a genus of lambeosaurine duckbilled dinosaur from the middle or late Maastrichtian-age Late Cretaceous Tsagayan Formation beds located in Kundur, Amur Region, Far Eastern Russia. The remains, consisting of a nearly complete skeleton, were described by Pascal Godefroit et al. in...

they all share similar looking skulls and crests. However, recent research has suggested that Olorotitan

Olorotitan

Olorotitan was a genus of lambeosaurine duckbilled dinosaur from the middle or late Maastrichtian-age Late Cretaceous Tsagayan Formation beds located in Kundur, Amur Region, Far Eastern Russia. The remains, consisting of a nearly complete skeleton, were described by Pascal Godefroit et al. in...

is Corythosaurus closest known relative even though it doesn't share as many skull characteristics as other lambeosaurs.

Paleobiology

Corythosaurus weighed in at 4 tonnes and measured roughly 10 metres (35 ft) from nose to tail. Like other hadrosaurs it had a toothless beak, the back of the jaws contained a dental battery composed of hundreds of small, interlocking teeth. These were used to crush and grind plant matter and were continually replaced as they wore away.

Over 20 skulls have been found from this dinosaur. As with other lambeosaurs, the animal bore a tall, elaborate bony crest atop its skull, which contained the elongate nasal passages. The nasal passages extended into the crest, first into separate pockets in the sides, then into a single central chamber and onward into the respiratory system.

Any vocalization would travel through these elaborate chambers, and probably get amplified. Scientists speculate that Corythosaurus could make loud, low pitched cries "[L]ike a wind or brass instrument." The sounds could serve to alert other Corythosaurus to the presence of food or a potential threat from a predator.

It was once thought that this dinosaur lived mostly in the water, due to the appearance of webbed hands and feet. However, it was later discovered that the so-called "webs" were in fact deflated padding, much like that found on many modern mammals.