Hypacrosaurus Facts
| Diet | Herbivore |
| Height | 2.5m |
| Length | 9m |
| Weight | 4 tonnes |
| Environment | Land |
| Era | Cretaceous |
| Period | Late Cretaceous |
| Type | Ornithopod |
| Location | Canada And United States |

| Diet | Herbivore |
| Height | 2.5m |
| Length | 9m |
| Weight | 4 tonnes |
| Environment | Land |
| Era | Cretaceous |
| Period | Late Cretaceous |
| Type | Ornithopod |
| Location | Canada And United States |
Hypacrosaurus was a large ornithopod dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous period, between 75 and 69.5 million years ago. This impressive herbivore roamed the ancient landscapes of what is now Alberta, Canada, and Montana, United States, representing the last of the hollow-crested duckbill dinosaurs known from good remains in North America.
Standing about 2.5 metres tall at the hip and measuring up to 9 metres in total length, Hypacrosaurus was similar in appearance to its relative Corythosaurus but had its own distinctive features. The most notable characteristic was its tall, hollow, rounded crest on top of its head, though this was not as large or as straight as that of Corythosaurus. This crest likely served multiple purposes, including sound production for communication and species recognition.
As an ornithopod, Hypacrosaurus was well-adapted for a herbivorous lifestyle. It possessed the typical duckbill dinosaur features, including a broad, flattened snout and hundreds of small teeth arranged in dental batteries for efficiently grinding tough plant material. The dinosaur could move both on two legs when running and on all fours when feeding, making it highly versatile in its behaviour.
Hypacrosaurus remained a relatively obscure genus until remarkable discoveries in the 1990s revealed nests, eggs, and hatchlings belonging to H. stebingeri. These finds provided unprecedented insights into the early life and nesting behaviour of these fascinating dinosaurs, making Hypacrosaurus one of the best-understood duckbill dinosaurs in terms of reproduction and development.
Hypacrosaurus had a distinctive tall, hollow, rounded crest on its head that was smaller and less curved than that of Corythosaurus. It possessed the characteristic duckbill snout of hadrosaurs and could walk on both two and four legs.
Hypacrosaurus built ground nests where females laid their eggs, with evidence suggesting parental care of hatchlings. The hollow crest likely produced sounds for communication between individuals, possibly for mating calls or warning signals within herds.
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Ornithischia |
| Family | Hadrosauridae |
| Genus | Hypacrosaurus |
Hypacrosaurus was first described by Barnum Brown in 1913. The original fossils were discovered at Alberta, Canada.