Corythosaurus was a large, semi-intelligent, plant-eating, duck-billed dinosaur. It was 33 feet long, 6.6 feet tall at the hips, and may have weighed up to 5 tons. It had a hollow, bony crest on top of its long head, shaped like a helmet with flattened sides. The crest of Corythosaurus formed from the upper lip bone and the nasal bone.
These two bones extend over the skull, taking the nasal passage with them. The nasal passage is folded similar to a woodwind instrument, which allowed Corythosaurus to make sounds. The crest also housed the enlarged olfactory lobes of the brain, increasing the sense of smell. Corythosaurus had short arms, a long, pointed tail, three-toed, hoofed feet, and mitten-like hands.
It walked and ran on two legs, and was a moderately fast dinosaur. Corythosaurus may have gone on all fours to forage for low-lying plants. It had a toothless beak and hundreds of cheek teeth that were used to grind food. Its skin had a pebbly texture.
Food
Corythosaurus was a herbivore, perhaps eating pine needles, conifers, ginkgos, seeds, cycads, twigs, and magnolia leaves.
Habitat
Corythosaurus lived during the Cretaceous period and had no natural defenses against predators. Also living in North America then were Albertosaurus, Nanotyrannus, Parasaurolophus, Euoplocephalus, Kritosaurus, and Pachyrhinosaurus.
Social Structure
Corythosaurus was a herding animal that may have migrated from shorelines to higher ground to reproduce
Lydia King is a huge animal lover and has always been fascinated with learning about the animal kingdom. She enjoys writing about anything animal related from scientific information about rare species to animal references in pop culture.
