Basic info Taxonomic history Classification Included Taxa
Morphology Ecology and taphonomy External Literature Search Age range and collections

Parasaurolophus

Reptilia - Hadrosauridae

Taxonomy
Parasaurolophus was named by Parks (1922). It is the type genus of Parasaurolophini.

It was assigned to Saurolophinae by Parks (1922), Parks (1923), Nopcsa (1928); to Trachodontidae by Lull (1924), Abel (1924), Huene (1927), Parks (1935); to Lambeosauridae by Ryan (1997), Ryan (1997); to Hadrosauridae by Moodie (1930), Russell (1930), Romer (1956), Parsch (1963), Kuhn (1964), Romer (1966), Charig (1967), Swinton (1970), Powell (1973), Thulborn (1974), Molnar (1980), Lehman (1981), Russell (1984), Clemens (1986), Carroll (1988), Longrich (2008); to Lambeosaurinae by Gilmore (1924), Hay (1930), Gilmore (1933), Gilmore (1935), Parks (1935), Nagao (1936), Riabinin (1939), Nagao (1939), Wilfarth (1940), Lull and Wright (1942), Russell (1946), Sternberg (1953), Sternberg (1954), Ostrom (1961), Tatarinov (1964), Rozhdestvensky (1968), Dodson (1975), Hopson (1975), Weishampel and Jensen (1979), Brett-Surman (1979), Weishampel and Weishampel (1983), Dodson (1983), Maryanska and Osmólska (1984), Powell (1987), Weishampel and Horner (1990), Chapman and Brett-Surman (1990), Forster and Sereno (1994), Vickaryous and Ryan (1997), Forster (1997), Dodson (1997), Sereno (1998), Godefroit et al. (1998), Sullivan and Williamson (1999), Williamson (2000), Sullivan and Bennett (2000), Eberth et al. (2001), You et al. (2003), Godefroit et al. (2003), Horner et al. (2004), Godefroit et al. (2004), Ryan and Evans (2005), Lund and Gates (2006), Prieto-Márquez et al. (2006), Mo et al. (2007), Gates et al. (2007), Evans et al. (2009), Prieto-Márquez (2010), Prieto-Márquez (2010), Prieto-Marquez and Salinas (2010), Prieto-Márquez and Wagner (2010), Ramírez-Velasco et al. (2012), Prieto-Marquez (2013), Bell (2014), Cruzado-Caballero and Powell (2017); and to Parasaurolophini by Evans and Reisz (2007), Evans et al. (2007), Godefroit et al. (2008), Pereda-Suberbiola et al. (2009), Cruzado-Caballero et al. (2010), Sullivan et al. (2011), Godefroit et al. (2012), Cruzado-Caballero et al. (2013), Prieto-Marquez et al. (2013), Bolotsky et al. (2014), Sullivan and Lucas (2014), Gates et al. (2021).

Synonymy list
YearName and author
1922Parasaurolophus Parks pp. 5-7 figs. Pl. 1-9
1923Parasaurolophus Parks p. 6
1924Parasaurolophus Abel p. 713
1924Parasaurolophus Gilmore p. 34
1924Parasaurolophus Lull p. 241
1927Parasaurolophus Huene p. 261
1928Parasaurolophus Nopcsa p. 185
1930Parasaurolophus Hay p. 219
1930Parasaurolophus Moodie p. 436
1930Parasaurolophus Russell p. 149
1933Parasaurolophus Gilmore p. 62
1935Parasaurolophus Gilmore p. 161
1935Parasaurolophus Parks p. 21
1936Parasaurolophus Nagao p. 213
1939Parasaurolophus Nagao p. 144
1939Parasaurolophus Riabinin p. 12
1940Parasaurolophus Wilfarth p. 16
1942Parasaurolophus Lull and Wright p. 133
1946Parasaurolophus Russell p. 1
1953Parasaurolophus Sternberg p. 11
1954Parasaurolophus Sternberg p. 383
1956Parasaurolophus Romer p. 630
1961Parasaurolophus Ostrom p. 575
1963Parasaurolophus Parsch p. 8
1964Parasaurolophus Kuhn p. 24
1964Parasaurolophus Tatarinov p. 569
1966Parasaurolophus Romer p. 370
1967Parasaurolophus Charig p. 716
1968Parasaurolophus Rozhdestvensky
1970Parasaurolophus Swinton p. 224
1973Parasaurolophus Powell p. 118
1974Parasaurolophus Thulborn p. 173
1975Parasaurolophus Dodson p. 51
1975Parasaurolophus Hopson p. 27 fig. 3
1979Parasaurolophus Brett-Surman p. 561 fig. 1
1979Parasaurolophus Weishampel and Jensen p. 1422
1980Parasaurolophus Molnar p. 138
1981Parasaurolophus Lehman p. 198
1983Parasaurolophus Dodson p. 94
1983Parasaurolophus Weishampel and Weishampel p. 44
1984Parasaurolophus Maryanska and Osmólska p. 131
1984Parasaurolophus Russell p. 25
1986Parasaurolophus Clemens p. 80
1987Parasaurolophus Powell p. 150
1988Parasaurolophus Carroll
1990Parasaurolophus Chapman and Brett-Surman p. 177
1990Parasaurolophus Weishampel and Horner p. 557
1994Parasaurolophus Forster and Sereno p. 25A
1997Parasaurolophus Dodson p. 12
1997Parasaurolophus Forster p. 297
1997Parasaurolophus Ryan p. 257
1997Parasaurolophus Vickaryous and Ryan p. 490
1998Parasaurolophus Godefroit et al. p. 51
1998Parasaurolophus Sereno p. 62
1999Parasaurolophus Sullivan and Williamson p. 3
2000Parasaurolophus Sullivan and Bennett p. 215
2000Parasaurolophus Williamson p. 194
2001Parasaurolophus Eberth et al. p. 58
2003Parasaurolophus Godefroit et al. p. 149
2003Parasaurolophus You et al. p. 152 fig. 3
2004Parasaurolophus Godefroit et al. p. 148 fig. 6
2004Parasaurolophus Horner et al. p. 442
2005Parasaurolophus Ryan and Evans p. 335
2006Parasaurolophus Lund and Gates p. 265
2006Parasaurolophus Prieto-Márquez et al. p. 938
2007Parasaurolophus Evans and Reisz pp. 386-387 fig. 9
2007Parasaurolophus Gates et al. pp. 926-927 fig. 10
2007Parasaurolophus Mo et al. p. 553 fig. 2
2008Parasaurolophus Godefroit et al. p. 67 fig. 18
2008Parasaurolophus Longrich p. 994
2009Parasaurolophus Evans et al. p. 1316
2009Parasaurolophus Pereda-Suberbiola et al. p. 568 fig. 6
2010Parasaurolophus Cruzado-Caballero et al. p. 1510 fig. 4
2010Parasaurolophus Prieto-Marquez and Salinas p. 835 fig. 20
2010Parasaurolophus Prieto-Márquez p. 5 fig. 2
2010Parasaurolophus Prieto-Márquez and Wagner p. 1243 fig. 3
2011Parasaurolophus Sullivan et al. p. 406
2012Parasaurolophus Godefroit et al. p. 551
2012Parasaurolophus Ramírez-Velasco et al. p. 392
2013Parasaurolophus Cruzado-Caballero et al.
2013Parasaurolophus Prieto-Marquez
2013Parasaurolophus Prieto-Marquez et al.
2014Parasaurolophus Bell p. 584
2014Parasaurolophus Bolotsky et al. p. 329
2014Parasaurolophus Sullivan and Lucas p. 372
2017Parasaurolophus Cruzado-Caballero and Powell p. 12 fig. 13
2021Parasaurolophus Gates et al. pp. 6-7

Is something missing? Join the Paleobiology Database and enter the data

RankNameAuthor
kingdomAnimalia()
—Bilateria
—EubilateriaAx 1987
—Deuterostomia
phylumChordataHaeckel 1874
subphylumVertebrata
superclassGnathostomata
—Osteichthyes()
subclassSarcopterygii()
subclassDipnotetrapodomorpha(Nelson 2006)
subclassTetrapodomorpha()
—Tetrapoda
—Reptiliomorpha
—Anthracosauria
subclassAmphibiosauriaKuhn 1967
—Cotylosauria()
—Amniota
—Sauropsida
classReptilia
subclassEureptilia()
—Romeriida
—Diapsida()
—Archosauromorpha(Huene 1946)
RankNameAuthor
—Crocopoda
—ArchosauriformesGauthier 1986
—Eucrocopoda
—Archosauria()
informalAvemetatarsalia
—Ornithodira
—Dinosauromorpha
—Dinosauriformes
—Dinosauria()
—Ornithischia()
—Genasauria
—Cerapoda
—Ornithopoda()
—Clypeodonta
—Iguanodontia()
—Dryomorpha
—Styracosterna
—Hadrosauriformes
—Hadrosauroidea()
familyHadrosauridae
subfamilyLambeosaurinae
tribeParasaurolophiniGlut 1997
genusParasaurolophus

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

G. †Parasaurolophus Parks 1922
show all | hide all
Diagnosis
ReferenceDiagnosis
T. A. Gates et al. 2021Lambeosaurine hadrosaurid taxon with the following unique traits: dorsal premaxillae extending posterodorsally over skull roof to form paired tubular chambers for narial canal (Evans, Reisz & Dupuis, 2007); common median chamber covered by lateral premaxillary process (Evans, Reisz & Dupuis, 2007); nasals extending posterodorsally nearly to end of crest in order to form hollow tubular chambers of narial canal (Evans, Reisz & Dupuis, 2007); jugal with anterior process that possesses large, dorsally directed lacrimal finger and an indentation posterior that accepts corresponding finger on the lacrimal⥉; rostral apex of rostral process of jugal reduced to a short process, only slightly thinner rostrally and ending abruptly§ (Prieto-Márquez, 2010; Prieto-Márquez et al., 2018); frontonasal platform extended posterodorsally to underlie crest (lengthens through ontogeny) (Sullivan & Williamson, 1999; Evans, Reisz & Dupuis, 2007); frontonasal platform thickened and steeply angled (Evans, Reisz & Dupuis, 2007); precerebral region of frontal short, anterior processes of conjoined frontals meet at a widely obtuse angle in dorsal view and median cleft is poorly developed (Evans, Reisz & Dupuis, 2007); olfactory depression of frontal is offset ventrally from roof of cerebral fossa (Evans, Reisz & Dupuis, 2007).
Additional unique combination of traits that differentiate Parasaurolophus from other hadrosaurids include: jugal has extremely deep posterior constriction, with a ratio greater than 1.35 (mean ratio of 1.43)§ (Prieto-Márquez, 2010; Prieto-Márquez et al., 2018); dorsal margin of infratemporal fenestra as wide as, or narrower than, quadrate cotylus and squamosal ramus of postorbital relatively short over infratemporal fenestra§ (Evans & Reisz, 2007; Prieto-Márquez et al., 2018); development of deltoid ridge dorsoventrally deep and anteroposteriorly long, with a well demarcated ventral margin§ (Prieto-Márquez, 2010; Prieto-Márquez et al., 2018); overall proportions of humerus (measured as a ratio between the total length and the width of the lateral surface of the proximal end of
the humerus) relatively short and stocky, ratio less than 4.25 (mean ratio of 3.85)§ (modified from Weishampel, Norman & Grigorescu (1993), Prieto-Márquez et al. (2018)); length of ulna relative to its dorsoventral thickness (measured at mid-shaft) ratio length/width less than 10§ (Prieto-Márquez, 2010; Prieto-Márquez et al., 2018); supraacetabular crest of ilium projects lateroventrally to overlap totally or at least half of lateral ridge of the posterior prominence of ischiadic peduncle§ (modified from Horner, Weishampel & Forster (2004), Prieto-Márquez et al. (2018)).