Edmontosaurus was a large, duck-billed herbivore that probably lived in herds, with others of its kind. It walked on two legs, but when feeding on low-growing plants it probably moved slowly on all fours. Its beak nipped and tugged at flowering plants and the tough leaves of conifer trees. Edmontosaurus ate bark and pine-cones, too. Once inside its mouth, its tongue pushed food into the cheek pouches that lay along either side of its jaw. Rows of tiny inter-locking teeth then began to chew on the food, grinding it down until it was ready to swallow.

Discovery

Edmontosaurus lived at the very end of the Age of Dinosaurs, in parts of western Canada, and the USA. It is named after Edmonton, Canada, near where many of its fossils were originally found. At first this dinosaur was called "Caloasurus", and for many years museums used this name when they put specimens on display. But in 1917, the palaeontologist, Lawrance Lambe, studied this duck-billed creature in greater detail than anyone had before, and as a result it was renamed Edmontosaurus. Edmontosaurus heards may have migrated, or travelled, over thousands of miles every year, since large numbers of their skeletons have been found in two seperate places - one in Alaska, the other in Alberta, Canada. Perhaps the animals followed a trail between these places that led them to food at different seasons of the year.

Body Facts

Edmontosaurus had a long, pointed tail. Each foot had three toes. It had short arms. Its head had a broad snout, like a duck's bill, long jaws with cheek pouches and large eyes. At the tip of its snout was a horny beak-like covering. There were as many as 1,000 tiny teeth - called a dental battery - set towards the back of its jaws. They could be locked together in a grinding pattern. Asw old teeth fell out, new ones grew in their place. It had large nostrils, covered with folds of skin.

Dinosaur Mummy

In 1908, Charles Sternberg and his three sons made one of the most incredible of all dinosaur discoveries - a 65-million-year-old mummified Edmontosaurus. They were searching for bones in the Lance Creek area of Wyoming, USA, when they came across the remains of a Edmontosaurus lying on its back. As they uncovered the creature the shrunken remains of its fossilized skin were found, still streched over the animal's body. It was an unbilievable find.

NOISY NOSE

Because the nostrils of Edmontosaurus were large and hollow, palaeontologist wonder if its nose was covered in folds of loose skin. When it inflated these folds, by blowing air though its nostrils, the effect might have been to create a "sound chamber", which made loud, bellowing