Hadrosauridae

Lore & Background

The latter would come to be recognized as the first recognized hadrosaur specimens. Around the same time, geologist William Parker Foulke was informed of large bones uncovered by farmer John E. Hopkins some twenty years earlier. Leidy briefly suggested the animal was likely amphibious, a view that would dominate for over a century. Further discoveries came from the East, and Edward Drinker Cope led an expedition to the Judith River Formation. Cope studied hadrosaur jaws and concluded the teeth were fragile, supposing the animals fed largely on soft water plants. Research continued in the Judith River area but yielded mostly fragmentary remains. They agreed with the semi-aquatic nature but re-evaluated Cope's weak-jaw idea, finding the teeth rooted in strong batteries continuously replaced. Ostrom challenged the semi-aquatic view, proposing hadrosaurs were capable terrestrial animals that browsed on conifers, though he remained uncertain about the paddle-like hand and tail. Brett-Surman's revision through the 1970s and 1980s.

Reader's Guide

Eberth and David C. Evans. The first chapter, by David B. Weishampel, studied the rate of ornithopod research over history, finding the twenty-first century overwhelmingly the most prolific time, with over two hundred papers published. The advent of the internet was cited as a likely catalyst. Hadrosaur research saw high diversity, with previously uncommon subjects such as growth, phylogeny, and biogeography receiving more attention, though functional morphology declined in study. The group's significance lies in its dominance as Late Cretaceous herbivores, its complex dental batteries, and the long-standing debate over its aquatic versus terrestrial habits, which shaped paleontological interpretation for over a century.

Did You Know?

• Hadrosauridae is divided into two principal subfamilies: lambeosaurines, which had hollow cranial crests, and saurolophines, which lacked hollow cranial crests.