Guide Note

The Edmontosaurus was a large, bipedal dinosaur that lived in the Upper Cretaceous period, around 65 million years ago. It grew up to 13 meters (43 feet) long, could weigh over four tons and had multiple rows of teeth (much like a shark). Edmontosaurus is part of the Hadrosaur—or so-called duck-billed—dinosaur family.

Fast Facts

1. Length: 13 meters (43 feet)
2. Weight: 4.4 tons
3. Kingdom: Animalia
4. Phylum: Chordata
5. Class: Sauropsida
6. Herbivore
7. Period: Upper Cretaceous
8. Ages: Campanian
9. Named for Edmonton, Canada, where first specimen discovered

Though a fossil specimen uncovered in 1908 included an imprint of the creature's skin, a more fully preserved fossil was discovered in 1999 with many of its soft tissues intact. That specimen, nicknamed Dakota, is only the fifth mummified dinosaur discovered that is also considered important by archaeologists. Found in the North Dakota Badlands by then amateur (and teenage) archaeologist Tyler Lyson, Dakota is being painstakingly removed from the sandstone in which it is confined. The full, preserved form of the dinosaur is estimated to emerge sometime in 2009. ¹