Parasaurolophus

From Freepedia

Parasaurolophus is a hadrosaurid genus of dinosaurs, from the Upper Cretaceous (about 76-65 million years ago) of North America. It was about 10 m (33 ft) long, 5.2 m (17 ft) high and weighed around 3500 kg (7,700 lb). Parasaurolophus was two-legged (bipedal), though probably stood on four when resting. It also had two strong arms, a scaly skin and a powerful tail. Its most noticeable feature is a long curved crest protruding from its head, often longer in males than in females. It was probably used for intraspecific communication by both male and females and for display by the males.

Parasaurolophus lived in large herds. They lived on grassy plains but liked to be around water. They were herbivores and ate land and water plants. They could reach these because they were good swimmers. Parasaurolophus were prey for large, carnivorous theropods such as Tyrannosaurus rex.

Fossils of Parasaurolophus have been found across North America, as well as in Canada, where a complete skeleton was found.

Parasaurolophus appeared in the Jurassic Park films, in the Brachiosaurus scene, when the camera trails to a full view of the park, in a herd near the lake. Parasaurolophus appeared again in The Lost World: Jurassic Park when InGen tries to capture dinosaurs for the San Diego Jurassic Park. They also made a brief appearance in Jurassic Park III, as a stampeding herd frightened by the appearance of a group of humans trying to escape from a pack of angry raptors.