Edmontosaurus was a type of hadrosaur, commonly called a “duck-billed dinosaur” which lived in western North America at the end of the Cretaceous Period, dating from approximately 75-65.5 MYA – that’s right, another Hell Creek dinosaur! Currently, there are two species: E. regalis and E. annectens.

Edmontosaurus, named after Edmonton, Canada, was one of the more common of the hadrosaurs; bone beds with hundreds of individuals have been uncovered. Edmontosaurus was big, too, measuring 40 feet long, the same size as Tyrannosaurus. Apparently, it was also prey for T. rex, because at least two specimens show that it had been bitten and survived.

The color drawing that you see here was made with Crayola and Prismacolor colored pencils. I’ve always associated Edmontosaurus with a sort of brownish-tan stripy color pattern, and so that’s what I’ve conveyed here. Just to add a dash of color, I made the keratinous frill running down his neck, back, and tail bright red. There may actually be a bit of evidence to support this. Several years ago, an Edmontosaurus “mummy” was uncovered in the Hell Creek Formation. When paleontologists looked at the preserved scale patterns on the skin, especially on the tail, they saw that the scales were arranged in vertical bars where you had large scales divided between sections of smaller scales. Could this be potential evidence for stripes? Until pigmentation cells are found in an Edmontosaurus mummy, that question will remain unanswered.

At least now I have a color prey dinosaur for my color T. rex to munch on! Keep your pencils sharp, everybody!

Categories: Paleontology, Uncategorized

Tags: art, dinosaur, Edmontosaurus, Hadrosaurid, Hell Creek Formation, Late Cretaceous, Mesozoic, North America, ornithopod, paleo-art, paleontology