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The collection/Amurosaurus

EXHIBIT 152

Amurosaurus

Amurosaurus riabinini

Amurosaurus was a hadrosaur with tooth batteries and skull architecture supporting a hollow crest whose complete shape remains unknown. [1]

Evidence profile

TWO WAYS TO PICTURE THE PAST

Compare the evidence with the familiar movie image. The illustrations are not to a shared scale.

01 / SKELETAL RECONSTRUCTION

A framework from the fossils

Published skeletal reconstruction of Amurosaurus riabinini combining material from several individuals.

A. riabinini reconstruction from disarticulated material of several individuals. Black elements were not preserved. Crest shape and the illustrated posture are restored comparatively; the silhouette is not a single measured skeleton. Living colors and soft tissues are unknown. [1]

Amurosaurus skeletal.jpg · Pascal Godefroit, Yuri L. Bolotsky and Jimmy Van Itterbeeck. CC BY 2.0. Proportionally resized Commons preview and converted to WebP; no anatomy edits.

Skeletal mounts and drawings may restore missing parts; the caption identifies the displayed material.

02 / MOVIE-STYLE INTERPRETATION

A cinematic imagination

Illustrative reconstruction of Amurosaurus; colors, soft tissues and restored details remain interpretive.

Original cinematic interpretation. The upper crest is missing from the described skull material; its modest outline here is a comparative artistic reconstruction. Colors, soft tissues and setting are illustrative. Lighting, coloration and scenery are artistic choices. This image does not document a fossil locality or behavior.

Original artwork · artistic interpretation.

Scientific view: source-informed reconstruction, credited paleoart or specimen-based imagery. Movie-style view: Original artistic interpretation. Reconstructions involve uncertainty.

PERIODLate Cretaceous[1]
DIETHerbivoreEvidence and uncertainty in the dossier
TOTAL LENGTHSee the dossierEstimate scope matters
FOSSILS FOUNDAmur Region, Russia, Heilongjiang, China[4]
CompareRead the dossierView the sources

MEET THE ANIMAL

Meet Amurosaurus

Amurosaurus was a plant-eating dinosaur from the end of the Cretaceous in the Amur region of Russia. Its deep jaws carried dental batteries: groups of working teeth backed by stacked replacement teeth. This arrangement helped process vegetation. Parts of the crest-supporting skull are known, but missing upper bones mean that the complete crest outline remains a reconstruction. [D1]

The Blagoveshchensk fossil deposit contains many bones, especially from late juveniles and small subadults. Researchers have considered whether this pattern might reflect grouping by age. However, the remains were disarticulated and reworked by a sediment flow. Transport and burial can change what a bonebed contains, so the age-grouping idea remains tentative rather than a direct snapshot of a herd. [D2]

One assigned forearm bone preserves a fracture that was healing with the pieces misaligned. Scans document the injury and the new bone surrounding it. The animal may have limped or relied on three limbs while moving, but that would describe an injured individual rather than the normal species gait. Survival alone does not demonstrate care from companions. [D5]

PREHISTORIC ANIMAL DOSSIER

A life in profile.

The animal, the evidence, and the questions still open.

Many recovered bones illuminate its anatomy, but they do not form one complete skeleton. Transport and age structure complicate behavioral interpretations. [D2]

Profile scope: A. riabinini: Russian type jaws and disarticulated bonebed material, including Chinese material reassigned from Sahaliyania in 2022. [D4]

Time
Late Cretaceous
Fossil locations in this exhibit
Amur Region, Russia, Heilongjiang, China
How to read the evidence

Source supported identifies a description documented by the cited source. Inferred marks a reconstruction or functional estimate. Debated marks competing interpretations. Not established means the sources reviewed for this dossier do not support a firm conclusion; it does not mean a behavior never occurred.

A size reference is an estimate, not a population range. Nesting evidence does not by itself establish courtship, mate choice, or lifelong pairing.

Length

Not established

Not established here

No complete associated skeleton was available to the inspected endocast study; an individual total-body reconstruction is not supplied there. [D3]

Body mass

Inferred

About 4.8 t; adult-sized composite model

The quadrupedal circumference model combines femur AEHM 1/1002 with unassociated humerus AEHM 1/997. Its separate bipedal calculation gives2.03t; these are method alternatives, not a species range. [D3]

Diet

Source supported

Plant eater with tooth batteries

The described jaws carry stacked replacement teeth and multiple active teeth for processing vegetation; exact preferred plants remain uncertain. [D1]

Habitat

Inferred

Maastrichtian river-basin settings

Udurchukan deposits at Blagoveshchensk record a basin with rivers and lakes; denser bank-side vegetation is a published environmental interpretation. [D2]

Locomotion

Inferred

Weight-bearing forelimbs; injury could disrupt gait

A fractured ulna was healing with misaligned parts. Authors infer limping and possible three-limb walking for that injured animal, not the normal species gait. [D5]

Distinctive anatomy

Source supported

Deep jaw and a crest-supporting skull roof

The upper nasal and premaxillary crest bones were absent in the 2004 material. A complete crest silhouette remains a comparative restoration. [D1]

Reproduction & life together

Reproduction and nesting

Not established

Not established here

Wulaga fibulae were interpreted as probably adult using size and histology. Skeletal adulthood does not identify nesting, parental care or age at first breeding. [D4]

Courtship and mating

Not established

Not established here

Endocast work discusses visual and vocal communication hypotheses for lambeosaurines; it does not demonstrate Amurosaurus mating rituals or sex-specific crest form. [D3]

Social behavior

Inferred

Possible age-segregated grouping

The bonebed favors late juveniles and small subadults. The proposed exclusion of younger animals from adult herds is tentative; the transported assemblage also limits interpretation. [D2]

Dossier research & sources

Sources and inspection notes for the claims in this profile.

  1. The lambeosaurine dinosaur Amurosaurus riabinini, from the Maastrichtian of Far Eastern RussiaActa Palaeontologica Polonica; Godefroit, Bolotsky and Van Itterbeeck (2004) · Accessed 2026-10-02Original full 34-page paper inspected. Holotype AEHM 1/12 associated maxilla/dentary; most postcranial bones disarticulated. Nasals and premaxillae missing; Maastrichtian Udurchukan occurrence and tooth batteries. · Inspected: page
  2. Taphonomy and Age Profile of a Latest Cretaceous Dinosaur Bone Bed in Far Eastern RussiaPALAIOS; Lauters, Bolotsky, Van Itterbeeck and Godefroit (2008) · Accessed 2026-10-02Original full 10-page paper inspected. Reworked debris-flow assemblage, dominance of late juveniles/small subadults and explicitly tentative age-segregated herd hypothesis, rather than direct nesting evidence. · Inspected: page
  3. Cranial Endocast of the Lambeosaurine Hadrosaurid Amurosaurus riabinini from the Amur Region, RussiaPLOS ONE; Lauters and colleagues (2013) · Accessed 2026-10-02Original full article and EuropePMC original XML inspected. Adult-sized unassociated femur AEHM 1/1002 and humerus AEHM 1/997 yield method alternatives 2.03 t (bipedal) and 4.79 t (quadrupedal), not a species range; endocast behaviors remain hypotheses. · Inspected: page
  4. Osteological and taxonomic reassessments of Sahaliyania elunchunorum (Dinosauria, Hadrosauridae) from the Upper Cretaceous Yuliangzi Formation, northeast ChinaJournal of Vertebrate Paleontology; Xing and colleagues (2022), original abstract reproduced by National Natural History Museum of China · Accessed 2026-10-02Institutionally reproduced original abstract inspected; publisher full text unavailable. Synonymizes S. elunchunorum with A. riabinini, refers most Wulaga material, and reports probable adult fibulae/histology; not nesting or sexual maturity. · Inspected: abstract
  5. Pathological ulna of Amurosaurus riabinini from the Upper Cretaceous of Far Eastern RussiaHistorical Biology; Bertozzo and colleagues (online2022; volume2023), Queens University Belfast · Accessed 2026-10-02Institutional original abstract inspected: CT-supported fracture, callus and malunion, with possible limping/three-limb locomotion. Injury survival is not proof of assistance by companions. · Inspected: abstract

THE STORY IN THE FOSSILS

Meet Amurosaurus

The Blagoveshchensk deposit holds abundant Amurosaurus material, but the carcasses were largely disarticulated before a sediment gravity flow reworked them. A bonebed is therefore more complicated than a snapshot of one living herd. [2]

A 2022 reassessment identified shared jaw, skull-roof and limb features in Chinese fossils previously named Sahaliyania. That proposed synonymy broadens the material assigned to Amurosaurus without adding another distinct genus to this catalog. [4]

A note on scale and time

The dossier identifies the scope of each reference estimate. A mount, an individual fossil and a species-wide adult range are different measurements. Comparison metrics remain unavailable where adult scope has not been established. Unknown does not mean zero.

Sources & editorial notes

Sources support the stated claims and scopes. Refer to the evidence notes for uncertainty.

  1. The lambeosaurine dinosaur Amurosaurus riabinini, from the Maastrichtian of Far Eastern RussiaActa Palaeontologica Polonica; Godefroit, Bolotsky and Van Itterbeeck (2004) · Accessed 2026-10-02Original full 34-page paper inspected. Holotype AEHM 1/12 associated maxilla/dentary; most postcranial bones disarticulated. Nasals and premaxillae missing; Maastrichtian Udurchukan occurrence and tooth batteries. · Inspected: page
  2. Taphonomy and Age Profile of a Latest Cretaceous Dinosaur Bone Bed in Far Eastern RussiaPALAIOS; Lauters, Bolotsky, Van Itterbeeck and Godefroit (2008) · Accessed 2026-10-02Original full 10-page paper inspected. Reworked debris-flow assemblage, dominance of late juveniles/small subadults and explicitly tentative age-segregated herd hypothesis, rather than direct nesting evidence. · Inspected: page
  3. Cranial Endocast of the Lambeosaurine Hadrosaurid Amurosaurus riabinini from the Amur Region, RussiaPLOS ONE; Lauters and colleagues (2013) · Accessed 2026-10-02Original full article and EuropePMC original XML inspected. Adult-sized unassociated femur AEHM 1/1002 and humerus AEHM 1/997 yield method alternatives 2.03 t (bipedal) and 4.79 t (quadrupedal), not a species range; endocast behaviors remain hypotheses. · Inspected: page
  4. Osteological and taxonomic reassessments of Sahaliyania elunchunorum (Dinosauria, Hadrosauridae) from the Upper Cretaceous Yuliangzi Formation, northeast ChinaJournal of Vertebrate Paleontology; Xing and colleagues (2022), original abstract reproduced by National Natural History Museum of China · Accessed 2026-10-02Institutionally reproduced original abstract inspected; publisher full text unavailable. Synonymizes S. elunchunorum with A. riabinini, refers most Wulaga material, and reports probable adult fibulae/histology; not nesting or sexual maturity. · Inspected: abstract
  5. Pathological ulna of Amurosaurus riabinini from the Upper Cretaceous of Far Eastern RussiaHistorical Biology; Bertozzo and colleagues (online2022; volume2023), Queens University Belfast · Accessed 2026-10-02Institutional original abstract inspected: CT-supported fracture, callus and malunion, with possible limping/three-limb locomotion. Injury survival is not proof of assistance by companions. · Inspected: abstract

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